FISCAL WATCHDOG: ONTARIO'S DEFICIT TO HIT $12.3B THIS YEAR
Dec 10, 2018
By Bob Komsic
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Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman says Ontario’s deficit will increase to $12.3-billion this fiscal year, half-a-billion more than he forecast before last spring’s election.
(Antonella Artuso/Toronto Sun)
Weltman cites the cancelling of the cap-and-trade program, reversing several tax increase, combined with a weaker economic forecast, as contributing to the higher figure.
The province’s fiscal watchdog says in his fall economic and budget outlook that without further policy changes, the deficit’s expected to exceed $16-billion by 2022-23.
While the government’s recent economic statement did not include a budget forecast beyond 2018, Weltman says balancing the books in one mandate would require ”significant changes” to policy that could have wide-ranging impacts on households and businesses.