Sask. deficit forecast up from budget despite revenue growth
Despite a boost in revenue for 2021-22, Saskatchewan’s deficit is expected to be higher than forecast in the budget due to fiscal challenges created by the drought this past summer.
The Government of Saskatchewan presented a mid-year update to its projected financial numbers on Monday morning.
The province’s deficit is now forecast at $2.7 billion, up $97 million from the budget. That deficit figure improved $29 million from first quarter projections.
The government said drought supports for farmers offset the strong mid-year revenue growth. Total expense is forecast to rise by $2.5 billion, including $1.8 billion for crop insurance claims. The total crop indemnity is projected at $2.4 billion for 2021-22.
"The drought was unforeseen and farmers were hit hard this spring and summer," Deputy Premier and Finance Minister Donna Harpauer said.
"Our government is here to provide support to Saskatchewan people when they need it. Absent the drought, we would have seen a significant improvement from budget and a much lower deficit, based on stronger revenue across all major categories."
The higher expense forecast also includes a $250 million rise in health spending from budget due to pandemic and drug plan pressures, and $100.9 million in Protection of Persons and Property expense due to support for victims of wildfires in the spring and summer.
Revenue is projected to increase by $2.4 billion, or 16.5 per cent. The province said it saw significant increase in all revenue categories, including $668.8 million from non-renewable resources due to high potash and oil prices.
The province’s GDP is expected to grow by 3.6 per cent in 2021 – up from the budget forecast of 3.4 per cent.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Donald Trump assails judge and his daughter after gag order in N.Y. hush-money criminal case
Donald Trump lashed out Wednesday at the New York judge who put him under a gag order that bars him from commenting publicly about witnesses, prosecutors, court staff and jurors in his upcoming hush-money criminal trial.
Families shocked after Niagara Falls hotel cancels bookings made year in advance of solar eclipse
After having the foresight to book their Niagara Falls hotel rooms more than a year in advance, several families planning to take in the solar eclipse next month were shocked to find out their reservations had been cancelled.
B.C. rescuers face 'high likelihood' of failure to reunite orphaned orca with pod
The race to reunite an orphaned orca calf that’s stuck in a shallow lagoon with a neighbouring pod has entered its fifth day, and a marine scientist says the clock is ticking.
Video shows police interrupting auto theft in progress outside Toronto home
New video footage obtained by CP24 shows the attempted theft of a vehicle in a North York driveway earlier this month that was ultimately interrupted by police.
Majority of Canadians believe in life after death: Angus Reid survey
A new survey from the Angus Reid Institute has found that a majority of Canadians believe in some form of life after death, a proportion that has held steady for decades.
MyPillow, owned by U.S. election denier Mike Lindell, formally evicted from Minnesota warehouse
A court ordered the eviction Wednesday of MyPillow from a suburban Minneapolis warehouse that it formerly used.