News Releases

March 15, 2021

The Manitoba government is charting a careful path to balance the budget post-pandemic through the fiscal responsibility and taxpayer protection amendment act, Finance Minister Scott Fielding announced today.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has caused significant financial and economic harm in Manitoba and around the world, and in response to this unanticipated health and economic disaster, our government has committed $3.2 billion to protect Manitobans and support businesses,” said Fielding. “The unexpected costs of the pandemic and decreased revenues are driving our deficit. Given the uncertainty surrounding how long the pandemic will last and how much it will damage our economy, we are resetting our balanced budget legislation and charting a cautious and realistic path forward.”

Fielding noted Bill 48 makes important amendments to the Fiscal Responsibility and Taxpayer Protection Act and sets into legislation a framework for Manitoba to return to balanced budgets. It would reset the baseline deficit from the existing $524 million target under the current act to what will be reported in the Public Accounts for 2020-21.

To reach balance at the latest by the end of 2028-29, the annual deficit reduction target would be reduced by the lesser of one-eighth of the deficit for the 2020-21 fiscal year and the amount of the actual reduction in the previous year.
 
“Our government is proud of the work we did to eliminate the deficit in 2019-20, which put us in a far stronger position to face COVID-19. Manitobans can trust our proven track record of fiscal responsibility and exceeding our targets to once again carefully return Manitoba’s budget to balance,” said Fielding. “Our government has made, and will continue to make, important and necessary investments to fight the pandemic and help Manitoba’s economy recover and grow.”

The province will release updated 2020-21 projections this spring as part of Budget 2021.

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