Prime Minister Stephen Harper says the federal government will not introduce new stimulus spending in the March 4 budget because the economy has stabilized and will likely grow in the future. (CBC)

The federal government will not be introducing major new spending programs in the March 4 budget because the economy has stabilized and will likely grow in the future, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said Monday.

No additional economic stimulus is planned and the current $46-billion stimulus package will be phased out on schedule by March 31, 2011, the end of the next fiscal year, Harper said in an interview with Business News Network.

"We are not today looking at a second stimulus package," he said. "We are looking at recalibrating, making some decisions on the existing stimulus package, but we are thinking beyond that — the exit strategies and the next economic agenda."

Harper said the government is examining what measures are needed to grow the economy and create employment without massive infusions of public cash.

While the stimulus spending and lower revenues caused by the recession have left the government facing record deficits, Harper said he isn't worried that the situation will lead to a structural deficit.

He said if the economy continues to grow and the government does what it has pledged to do in ending the stimulus and controlling spending, "the possibility today of getting in a debt-interest payment trap is in my judgment not high."

Harper expressed some disappointment the economy has not recovered as strongly as it might have, particularly on the employment front.

He said growth has been dampened by low international demand for Canadian exports and the strength of the Canadian dollar, which has made Canadian goods less competitive.

With files from The Canadian Press