Canada could see temporary deficit, Flaherty says

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(Reuters)

TORONTO (Reuters) - Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said on Friday that Canada could go into deficit if the government announces fiscal stimulus measures, but that any deficit would be short-lived.

"If we have to take additional stimulus steps and measures in the Canadian economy, we will do so, even if it means that we would go into deficit," he told a business audience in Toronto. "We would go into deficit only temporarily."

The government said on Thursday that the economy has slipped into recession, but projected a surplus over the next fiscal year.

(Reporting by Cameron French; editing by Peter Galloway)