Auditor General Terry Paddon states in a report released that there are concerns regarding the Province’s ability to sustain the level of unprecedented deficits forecast in Budget 2016.
Paddon said that, "The $2.2 billion deficit recorded for the year ended March 31, 2016, was the largest in the Province’s history and more than double the deficit of the previous year."
The revised economic forecast for 2016, which was released with the Province’s 2016 Fiscal and Economic Update, showed a deterioration in most economic indicators from the original expectations at the time of Budget 2016. The Province’s long term economic forecast indicates a 13 per cent drop in employment by 2020, a reduction of 31,100 persons.