The Auditor General is raising red flags about the direction of the province’s public accounts in light of yesterday’s fall fiscal update.
Yesterday, Denise Hanrahan issued the office’s 30th unqualified, or clean, audit opinion of the province’s 2023-2024 public accounts.
She says it is important to note that for the fiscal year ending last March, the province’s expenses exceeded revenue by $459-million, which she says “is worse than originally budgeted.”
She says the total liabilities of the province were nearly $32-billion, the net-debt increased by 7.3 per cent, and the net-debt per capita is double the rest of the nation.
Auditor General Denise Hanrahan (VOCM News)
Hanrahan says that even with an increasing population, those financial indicators, challenging demographics, and economic risks “suggest that the province’s financial situation is worsening.”
Specifically, the AG points to the rate mitigation plan. she says there is no current impact on public accounts, but the long-term impact on the public is unknown, and may have a “significant effect on the province’s financial statements in the near future.”
She says the current rate mitigation plan only goes up to 2030, and given that Muskrat Falls and its debt extends beyond that date, she is urging government to plan for what she calls “this known risk.”
