No balanced budget for four years
Posted Mar 31, 2010 04:47:56 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
It will be three to five years before Nova Scotia’s New Democratic Government plans to balance the budget. Finance Minister Graham Steele gave the Halifax Chamber of Commerce a sneak peek at the provincial government’s fiscal plan today, in advance of budget day on April 6.
Steele spoke at length about his Back to Balance campaign, which held more than 20 meetings and heard from almost 1,500 people across the province, during today’s announcement.
“Nova Scotians told me consistently, no matter where I was around the province, that the right time to get back to balance was in three to five years; and I can tell you today that we agree with that,” Steele told an audience at the Halifax Marriott Harbourfront hotel.
He said how quickly the budget is balanced is dependent on how fast the economy recovers.
The minister says the fiscal forecast is already improving with a projected deficit of $490 million. That’s a nearly $100-million decrease from what Steele announced last fall.
