08:01 AM EDT, 10/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Nearly three in four (74%) small firms are concerned about the lack of a plan to return to a balanced federal budget as Canada continues running deficits and racking up federal debt, said the Canadian Federation of Independent Business (CFIB) on Wednesday.

The federal debt has nearly doubled in the last 10 years, rising from C$602.4 billion in 2012/2013 to C$1,173 billion in the 2022/2023 fiscal year, noted CFIB.

All the money to be collected from the goods and services tax (GST) across Canada barely covers the C$54 billion in annual interest payments on the country's national debt, it pointed out. It's the equivalent of the total combined provincial budgets of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Newfoundland and Labrador in 2024/2025.

Small businesses are calling for greater fiscal restraint to balance the federal budget and reduce debt, added CFIB.

"Ottawa needs to stop acting as if it has money to burn and, instead, work to avoid driving up the national debt," said Jasmin Guenette, Vice-President of National Affairs at CFIB, in a statement.