Canada rules out raising taxes to curb deficit

TORONTO Dec 22 (Reuters) - The Canadian government won't raise taxes to rein in its budget deficit after its stimulus spending ends next year but will focus heavily on spending to balance its books, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said.

A newspaper report summarizing an interview to be broadcast on Dec. 26 quoted Harper as saying that the government would curb spending rather than increase taxes.

"We won't be raising taxes, but we will be constraining growth (in public spending), making sure that growth is very much contained in the future, and that the tax base of the country can recover," the Globe and Mail quoted Harper as saying in its Tuesday edition.

Harper's Conservative government has cut taxes several times since it was elected. Last year, as Canada tumbled into recession, the government launched a stimulus package that includes infrastructure spending.

That has pushed the budget into a deficit forecast to reach C$56 billion ($53 billion) this year. (Reporting by Janet Guttsman; Editing by Padraic Cassidy)