The provincial government is reporting some improvements to the overall fiscal situation, but their update is leaving a local investment advisor to wonder what exactly government’s plan is.
Finance Minister Siobhan Coady delivered the fall fiscal update on Wednesday, reporting a deficit decrease of $231-million, and a net debt decrease of about a half a billion dollars.
Larry Short, a senior investment advisor at Short Financial with IA Private Wealth, says those numbers are an improvement, but not a dramatic one.
Short questions what government’s plan is moving forward.
He says $45-million in savings is from deferred municipal projects, but that’s not really savings because eventually they do have to spend that money. Similarly, he notes savings from vacancies in core government departments. He questions if those are positions government plans to fill, or if they are permanent cuts.
Meanwhile, Opposition finance critic Tony Wakeham held a media briefing following the fall fiscal update, and was asked whether he believes government can take credit for the province’s improved fortunes.
He says he doesn’t believe they can, given that increases in revenues came from mining royalties and corporate income tax, as opposed to actions the government has taken.
Wakeham noted that any oil revenues were offset by a lack of production, something he says the government can take credit for.
During the government’s mid-year fiscal update, the province took credit for holding the line on spending while reaping rewards from some unexpected revenue.
And while there was a $231-million dollar reduction in the projected deficit, and no more mention of the province going bankrupt, Finance Minister Siobhan Coady reiterated some sobering facts to put the numbers in perspective.
She says every man, woman and child in the province—the entire population of 520,000—is responsible for the province’s $16.7 billion in debt, or $32,116 per person. Coady noted that a child born in the province today is saddled with that debt, adding it’s government’s goal to provide the potential to right that wrong.
