Feds to pay off $15 billion from national debt: Martin

Feds to pay off $15 billion from national debt: Martin: "Feds to pay off $15 billion from national debt: Martin Last Updated: Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 7:34 PM ET CBC News The federal government will use the entire budget surplus to pay down at least $15 billion of the national debt this year – $5 billion more than originally planned – Finance Minister Paul Martin announced Thursday. * NEWS COVERAGE: Debt details but no budget date from Martin 'This means that we will have retired more than $33 billion of debt in the last four years – $27 billion in the last two years alone – saving Canadians close to $2 billion a year in interest payments,' Martin said during his economic update to the House of Commons finance committee. Finance Minister Paul Martin Finance Minister Paul Martin After the $15-billion paydown, the national debt will stand at $549.5 billion. Martin announced no new spending initiatives, and no new tax cuts. His pre-election economic update last October – which amounted to a 'mini' budget – spelled out a variety of new tax cuts. Since the mini-budget, the government has announced more than $1.3 billion in new spending iniatives covering the next two years. Martin said his projections unveiled Thursday will ensure that the new spending, "