OTTAWA -- The parliamentary budget office is defending itself from a government attack on its latest report on Canada's falling overseas development spending.
The Foreign Affairs Department accuses the budget watchdog of relying on inaccurate financial information in a report that said spending on poverty reduction shrank 23 per cent in the first six months of the last fiscal year.
The accusation comes in a department news release and is the latest public disagreement between the Harper government and Parliament's budget officer.
Arun Thangaraj, director general of financial planning and management for Foreign Affairs, says the report doesn`t tell the full story.
Thangaraj said the 23-per-cent figure will drop in the next six months as more funds are spent.
Mostafa Askari, the deputy parliamentary budget officer, says the Foreign Affairs statement shows the department doesn`t disagree with the numbers in the report.
