The federal government is set to table its budget March 29, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said Wednesday.
The timing of the budget is a bit later than usual as the Conservatives are expected to make cuts to many departments.
Cabinet ministers have indicated they are still making final decisions on cuts, which are rumoured to be as much as 20 per cent in some departments.
Flaherty did not offer specifics as the government attempts to find $4 billion to $8 billion in annual savings over the next three years.
"There's not going to be intricate detail," he told reporters in Ottawa.
"But there'll be enough information that it'll be comprehensible, that it will describe what we're doing in terms of the deficit reduction action plan, and much more than that, this is a jobs and growth budget."
The budget comes out only days before the start of the 2012-13 fiscal year, which begins April 1.
Flaherty made the announcement during a hastily-scheduled scrum outside of the House of Commons.
He hinted at the upcoming cuts, saying the public service would need to tighten its belt.
"We're talking about relatively small spending reductions, certainly nothing more than moderate spending reductions in a budget of that size ($265 billion)," he said. "If you want to look at big austerity programs, you go to the United Kingdom today, you go to Canada (in) 1995, 1996. This is not in that order of magnitude."
Flaherty has said the government plans to balance the budget by 2015-16. He said Wednesday there are no plans at this time to change that prediction.
"We are on track still for the medium term. There's been no significant change in the track," he said of balancing the budget.
With the economy expected to slow to less than two per cent annual growth, the government is anticipating lower tax revenue from consumers and corporations.
However, Flaherty received some good news last week when the Finance Department reported a monthly deficit of $353 million in December, from $1.35 billion a year earlier.
The budget will be unveiled only days after the NDP elect a new leader.
