Provincial deficit less than expected

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 02/09/2011 (5394 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The Manitoba government incurred a summary budget deficit of $298 million for the year ended March 31, $247 million better than originally budgeted, according to an annual reckoning of the province’s books.

The Finance Department released the multi-volumed Public Accounts late this morning. It revealed a lower deficit for the past fiscal year than Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk projected in April. At that time, she estimated a summary deficit of $467 million. Originally, she budgeted for a $545-million deficit for 2010-2011.

Premier Greg Selinger told reporters Friday the better-than-anticipated result for 2010-2011 was due to higher-than-projected revenues.

“It shows the economy has done pretty well in Manitoba,” he said. In fact, the results show that the NDP government is ahead of schedule in its bid to balance the books, he said.

Selinger said the report should put to rest accusations that the government is keeping the public in the dark about the state of the province’s finances.

“The numbers speak for themselves and they’ve been independently verified and signed off by the auditor general. And that should put to rest some of the allegations that we’re hiding deficits, etc.,” he said.

The state of the province’s books has emerged as an election issue. The Tories have said the province is in such dire financial straits that, if elected, they wouldn’t be able to balance the books until 2018 unless they raised taxes or cut front-line services – something they have vowed not do. They claim the NDP have hidden the true costs from the public for the current fiscal year, in which a $438 million deficit is projected.

The NDP, meanwhile, say they are on target to eliminate the deficit by 2014.