Deficit less than expected, latest numbers show

By: Larry Kusch Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Saturday, Sep. 3, 2011

THE Manitoba government incurred a deficit of $298 million in the last fiscal year -- $247 million less than originally budgeted, according to an annual reckoning of the province's books.

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THE Manitoba government incurred a deficit of $298 million in the last fiscal year -- $247 million less than originally budgeted, according to an annual reckoning of the province's books.

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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/09/2011 (5447 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

THE Manitoba government incurred a deficit of $298 million in the last fiscal year — $247 million less than originally budgeted, according to an annual reckoning of the province’s books.

Manitoba Finance released the multi-volume Public Accounts on Friday. It reveals a lower deficit for the fiscal year ended March 31 than Finance Minister Rosann Wowchuk projected in April. At that time, she estimated a summary deficit of $467 million for 2010-11. Originally, she budgeted for a $545-million deficit for that fiscal year.

Premier Greg Selinger told reporters the better-than-anticipated result was due to higher-than-projected revenues. “It shows the economy has done pretty well in Manitoba,” 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,” 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.

They had been demanding the release of the Public Accounts. And they continued to claim Friday Selinger and the NDP have hidden the true costs of running government for the current fiscal year, in which a $438-million deficit is projected. “He’s ignoring the flood. He’s ignoring the billion dollars of desperate promises he made before the election,” Conservative Leader Hugh McFadyen said.

However, Selinger said the government remains on target to eliminate the deficit by 2014, and the 2010-11 result shows it may actually be ahead of that schedule. He said all the government’s program announcements have been costed out and are accounted for in its multi-year deficit-reduction plan.

larry.kusch@freepress.mb.ca