B.C.’s deficit is set to balloon $313 million during the 2011-12 fiscal year to $3.1 billion, Finance Minister Kevin Falcon told media November 28 as part of his second-quarter economic update.
He attributed about $303 million of that extra debt to less revenue from:
- lower corporate income tax revenue;
- the impact of lower commodity prices on natural resource revenue; and •reduced net income anticipated from commercial Crown corporations.
B.C.’s taxpayer-supported debt forecast stands at $36.5 billion and is $351 million lower than the projection in Falcon’s first-quarter report.
The lower than anticipated debt came from improved working capital management and lower capital spending projections, which reduced borrowing requirements.
“While B.C. is still expecting to continue to outperform most other North American economies, we expect revenues to decline and we are revising out deficit calculations as a result,” Falcon said in a release.
He believes the province will still be able to balance its budget by the 2013-14 fiscal year, but he left some wriggle room to back away from that pledge if the global economic situation worsens.
Glen Korstrom
@GlenKorstrom