Some times it pays off to see the glass as half empty (or worse).

The Bank of Canada released new projections for the economy Tuesday.

It now sees the economy shrinking by 3 per cent this year - a much steeper decline than the 1.2 per cent slip it predicted in January.

January was the same month, of course, that the federal government tabled its budget.

So, does the central bank's revised projections mean the budget is off track?

Nope. At least not according to Finance Minister Jim Flaherty.

When asked about it today he said: "I'm comfortable with our projections. The Bank of Canada has changed theirs, but my projections were the projections we put in the budget."

How did Flaherty come up with his budget numbers?

Well, he started by looking at all the projections of the leading economic minds of the country - then knocked an extra $30 billion dollars off what they said.

The result: Flaherty assumed the economy would shrink by 2.7 per cent this year.

With the wild numbers we've seen for the economy in the last few months - I think we can forgive the 0.3 percentage point difference.

Now, let's just hope Flaherty is also right about the 4.2 per cent rebound in 2010 and his projection for 6.4 per cent growth in 2011.

—James Fitz-Morris