No new big spending or short-term stimulus in Canada fiscal update: report

OTTAWA (Reuters) - The Canadian government's fiscal update next week is not expected to include major new spending and will not be focused on short-term stimulus measures, the Globe and Mail newspaper reported on Thursday. The story, which cited unnamed sources, said the update will include measures aimed at rolling out the next phase of the government's infrastructure spending plan. The update from Canada's Finance Department, due on Tuesday, will partly respond to recommendations made last week by an advisory council, the report said. The recommendations include creating an infrastructure development bank, an agency to increase foreign investment in Canada and increasing immigration. The fall fiscal update typically updates the government's economic and budgetary forecasts. Next week's update will go beyond that to include new policy measures, the report said. The budget released by the one-year-old Liberal government last March forecast a deficit of C$29.4 billion ($21.96 billion) in the current fiscal year as it aimed to revive the economy with infrastructure spending. The budget laid out a plan to invest C$60 billion in infrastructure spending over 10 years, with an initial phase of C$11.9 billion over five years. Infrastructure is expected to be a major component of the update, according to the Globe. ($1 = 1.3385 Canadian dollars) (Reporting by Leah Schnurr; Editing by Bill Trott)