In what’s become a September pattern in Nova Scotia politics, the province’s finance minister is again projecting a bigger deficit than anticipated in his spring budget.
However, unlike what’s occurred in the past two years, Finance Minister Allan MacMaster says he’s worried that the flow of red ink won’t be reversed by higher-than-forecast revenues as the year progresses.
MacMaster announced today the deficit forecast for 2024-25 has increased $187 million to $654 million on his $16.7 billion budget, due to higher department spending and a slowing flow of tax revenue.
The finance minister says that this year he’s a bit nervous about the trends, as tax revenues are forecast to be about $70 million less than anticipated in the spring budget.
The minister says the softening of revenues is a “small but … notable” trend, and his officials will be carefully observing more detailed tax data expected in November.
The forecast also includes about $243 million more in spending than forecast, including measures that weren’t announced or anticipated in the spring budget.
The provincial government has overestimated its deficit by wide margins in recent years and has made a number of spending announcements outside the spring budget process — drawing critiques from the auditor general for spending public money without the same legislative oversight that the budget receives.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.