Canada's Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland declined to say on Tuesday whether the country would achieve its deficit target for the last fiscal year, fueling economists' expectations that the Liberal government missed its target.

Canadian Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said the government will keep its goal of reducing its debt-to-GDP ratio over time, but sidestepped questions about the size of the budget deficit.

In the budget, Ottawa said the 2023-24 debt-to-GDP ratio would be 42.1% and decline gradually to 39% in 2028-29

Canada will meet the 2023-2024 debt-to-GDP target it set in the federal budget in April, Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland said on Tuesday, but declined to say whether the budget deficit would be bigger than planned.