OTTAWA — Business leaders say they'll be looking to the upcoming federal budget to fill in the blanks left Tuesday by a Conservative government throne speech that said little in terms of encouraging economic growth and prosperity.

The speech, setting out the minority government's blueprint for the coming months, focused on Prime Minister Stephen Harper's touted cut to the GST but said little else about any other economic plans. That's not surprising, given Harper's focus to date on his five top priorities, observers said.

Those include greater social and military spending as well as a reduction of the GST by one percentage point to six per cent. But that narrow focus can't continue, said Perrin Beatty, chief executive of Canadian Manufacturers and Exporters.

"We hope to see Parliament deal with these (five priorities) quickly and then move on,'' said Beatty.

"What we urgently need is a focus on economic priorities...it's important now to focus on issues that affect the livelihood of every Canadian.'' The speech, read by Gov. Gen. Michaelle Jean, did pledge the Conservative government "will promote a more competitive, more productive Canadian economy,'' but didn't say how.

Instead, it reiterated Harper's commitment to reducing the goods and services tax, a controversial move critics say will do nothing to encourage economic growth. The pressure is now on Harper to put some flesh on the bare bones of those promises in his government's budget, said Nancy Hughes Anthony, president of the Canadian Chamber of Commerce.

"I think we'll be watching the budget very closely and seeing that as the foundation of what the government is planning to actually do on the economic side,'' she said.

"There are a few nuggets here, but the real meat and potatoes will come in the budget.''

Following the throne speech, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said there will be lower taxes, but wouldn't say whether that refers only to the GST cut or changes to income taxes as well. "I'm not going to talk about what's in the budget, we haven't made all the decisions," said Flaherty, who hasn't yet announced when he'll bring in his first budget.

Many expect it will be within the next four to six weeks.

"I can tell you that all Canadians on average will pay less tax under the Conservative government than they paid under the Liberal government,'' Flaherty said.

Liberal Finance critic John McCallum said that means the Harper government is still intending to roll back previous Liberal income tax reductions to help finance the GST cut.

And it still hasn't given any roadmap on how it intends to make Canada more productive and give business the tools to compete in a tough global environment, he added.

"This government is either missing in action or moving in the wrong direction,'' said McCallum.

"To raise income tax and cut the GST is precisely the wrong direction to boost economic growth," he added.

The throne speech also repeated Harper's pledge to eliminate the so-called fiscal imbalance. Provinces complain that Ottawa takes in more than its fair share of tax revenue, short-changing them.

The speech pledged to "respond to concerns about the fiscal imbalance.''

Yet could be hugely expensive but Harper hasn't said how he'll achieve such a deal, or how they'll pay for it, said McCallum.

"He hasn't budgeted a penny on it.''