New Brunswick closes 2015-16 books with $260.5M deficit
The Gallant government posted a lower than expected deficit for the fiscal year that ended last March 31, new figures show, and Auditor General Kim MacPherson has endorsed the numbers as being accurate this time.
According to information released by the province Friday afternoon, New Brunswick posted a deficit of $260.5 million for its 2015-16 fiscal year. That's $66 million better than the Gallant government originally projected and a $100-million reduction from the previous fiscal year.
"The statements released today are a good indication we are on the right track," said Finance Minister Cathy Rogers.
Significantly, the figures were confirmed by MacPherson, who last year sparred with the Gallant government over the way it was accounting for pension funds and refused to endorse the financial statements with a clean audit.
The Gallant government fought back at the time, openly criticizing MacPherson for her stance on pension accounting, but this year backed down and made the changes she required.
"The ... financial statements present fairly, in all material respects, the financial position of the Province of New Brunswick," she wrote this year, granting a coveted unqualified audit.
It's the second year in a row New Brunswick's deficit has shrunk, although not all of the news was good.
The province's debt grew by $541.4 million, ballooning to a record $13.7 billion.
Growth in the debt, which moves with the deficit and changes in the value of major assets like highways and office buildings, was $106 million higher than expected.
Figures show New Brunswick's debt has now doubled in size over the last nine years.
