The Saskatchewan Government says the end of this fiscal year shows a deficit of $268-million, that’s $97-million less than was budgeted for.
“Our year-end actual’s show that Saskatchewan’s fiscal position and financial outlook continue to improve,” Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said in a news release on Thursday. “Our government’s plan to return the province to balance remains on track.”
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In 2018-19, total revenue was $14.45-billion, up $206-million, or 1.4 percent, from budget, and up $430-million, or 3.1 percent, compared to the last fiscal year.
Minister Harpauer says the deficit is lower than they anticipated it being. “We are very pleased to see that our bottom line closed at a stronger position than we had budgeted by $97-million, which is $97-million less of the deficit.”
She says she can’t say if these results will have an impact on the new fiscal year. “Every single year is obviously very unique in itself, so you know some of these numbers were growing as we were working within last budget and we used those projections when we built this budget.”
Harpauer says the credit for the improved results were due to increased revenue from non-renewable resources.
“My concerns right now going forward is of course the trade issues that we are all well aware of because that will affect the budget,” Harpauer adds. “Obviously I am thrilled as everyone else is to see the rain because agriculture is a huge part of our budget.”
NDP remaining skeptical of fiscal year numbers:
The provincial NDP is not impressed with the final results of the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Finance critic Trent Wotherspoon says while the government says they are on a path to get back to balance, they are just creating more debt.
Wotherspoon said one of his major concerns is the cost of paying for P3 projects.
“These are to fund some projects that have really gone off the rails by way of their management and have sent dollars far outside of Saskatchewan as well,” Wotherspoon said. “The building of those projects with that work outsourced; not working with Saskatchewan companies and workers where possible.”
Wotherspoon said a lot of things are slowing down in the province, including population growth.
“Even our population numbers have really slowed down, if you look at this last quarter, it’s sort of the slowest quarter that we’ve had,” Wotherspoon said. “This is a time where the government really needs to be rolling up its sleeves around the trade challenges that we face as a province.”
Wotherspoon adds the education system is struggling due to a lack of funding in classrooms, as is the construction industry due to the addition of PST on construction labour.
{With files from Ryan McNally}
