Brandon Sun By: Colin Slark
MIKAELA MACKENZIE/WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Premier Brian Pallister gives a mid-year financial update at the Manitoba Legislative Building in Winnipeg on Thursday, Dec. 17, 2020.
Buoyed by transfers from the federal government, the province unveiled a less severe deficit projection on Monday.
Advertisement
Buoyed by transfers from the federal government, the province unveiled a less severe deficit projection on Monday.
In a mid-fiscal year update, Premier Brian Pallister and Finance Minister Scott Fielding said the deficit for 2020-21 is estimated to be $2.048 billion rather than the $2.938-billion deficit originally projected in September.
A significant portion of that difference is made up of $648 million in transfer payments from the federal government, which will end up offsetting approximately 20 per cent of Manitoba’s expenditures for the fiscal year.
Opinion
Premier Brian Pallister’s stubborn claim his government can’t afford to adequately compensate small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic just got a little tougher to sell.
Premier Brian Pallister’s stubborn claim his government can’t afford to adequately compensate small businesses hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic just got a little tougher to sell.
Two days after lecturing small operators to tighten their belts, Pallister announced Manitoba’s projected deficit for 2020-21 dropped by nearly one-third, to just over $2 billion.
Manitoba projects lower deficit of $2B as significant uncertainty remains Click to Expand
MIKAELA MACKENZIE / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS
Article content
The provincial deficit is now forecast to be more than $2 billion for the 2020-21 fiscal year, a drop of almost $900 million since the first-quarter update, which was predicting a $2.9 billion shortfall.
Finance Minister Scott Fielding and Premier Brian Pallister delivered the update on Thursday and say the improvement for the second quarter is due primarily to the inclusion of $648 million of federal transfers to the province for COVID-19 spending. The province also saved $347 million in the reduction of other base-budget expenditures.
We apologize, but this video has failed to load.
Try refreshing your browser. COVID-19 pushes Manitobaâs deficit beyond $2 billion Back to video