09:24 AM EDT, 06/04/2025 (MT Newswires) -- The Canadian government's Main Estimates for 2025-26 outline $486.9 billion in budgetary spending authorities, noted the office of the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO) on Wednesday.

Voted authorities, which require approval by parliament, total $222.9 billion. Statutory authorities, for which the government already has parliament's permission to spend, total $264 billion.

The 2025-26 Main Estimates outline $49.1 billion in forecasted statutory authorities related to servicing public debt, wrote PBO in a note. This includes $43.9 billion for interest on unmatured debt and $5.2 billion for other interest costs. This represents a $700 million increase from the 2024-25 Estimates to date.

Public debt charges have increased significantly over the last three years due to a substantial increase in the stock of public debt over the course of the pandemic combined with subsequent higher effective interest rates. Post 2025-26, the effective interest rate is expected to stabilize, slowing the growth in public debt charges.

PBO projects that public debt charges will reach $69.9 billion by 2029-30, pointed out PBO. In 2023-24, it was less than $50 billion