EDMONTON – Alberta’s finance minister says the province is on track to reduce its deficit by $1 billion this year.
Joe Ceci says more oil revenue and higher than expected returns on income tax are the reason this year’s projected deficit has dropped to $7.8 billion.
The numbers are part of the government’s first-quarter budget update.
They show overall spending remains stable at $56 billion, although an extra $2 million has been added to go toward a plebiscite on Calgary’s 2026 Olympic bid.
The debt by the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year is projected to be just under $53 billion.
The province has increased its projected return on the price for oil this year to US$61 a barrel from the US$59 forecast when the budget was tabled in March.
The fiscal update comes a day after a federal court overturned approval of the Trans Mountain pipeline expansion, which the province says is critical to the Alberta and national economies.