Making Choices - The 1998 Pre-Budget Public Consultation
Our Financial
Situation
Our three year plan
calls for continuing progress on deficit reduction. With 1997-98
behind us, the challenge will be to make progress toward
achieving our deficit targets for the coming years. Our longer
term objective is for sustainable balanced budgets.
Our Three
Year Plan for
Deficit Reduction
| Years | Fiscal Year | Deficit Target | |||||
| 1. | 1997-1998 | $20 million | |||||
| 2. | 1998-1999 | $10 million | |||||
| 3. | 1999-2000 | $0 | |||||
| 2000-2001 | $? | ||||||
Our deficit has been reduced every year since 1990-91. This
consistent improvement in our financial situation has made the
greatest contribution to ensuring our essential public services
can be maintained.
There has been much talk lately about the federal "fiscal dividend". The combination of federal expenditure cuts and revenue growth should create growing federal financial surpluses in the coming years. These surpluses are the so called fiscal dividend and the debate revolves around what to do with any uncommitted money.
We do not anticipate a provincial fiscal dividend at this time. We have prudently lowered our expenditures to be within reach of a balanced budget, but do not forecast the revenue growth needed to create surpluses. It will be a challenge for us, given our existing expenditure pressures, just to avoid returning to increasing deficits.