Saskatchewan’s government announced its second budget since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, without projections of a budget surplus until 2026-27..“The pandemic is indeed creating costs for the government, but every family and business has found ways to save money, and the province needs to do that as well,” said Todd MacKay, the Canadian Taxpayers Federation’s Prairie Director..“Spending is going up in 10 out of the 11 major budget categories.”.“It’s good to see the Saskatchewan government set a target to balance the budget, but it needs to work harder to hit that target earlier.”.Compared to the province’s previous budget, spending will rise by 6.3 per cent, prioritizing $6.54 billion for health care, $3.75 billion for education and $1.56 billion for social services and assistance spending..The province will allocate $90 million in health-sector-related spending to accommodate its response to COVID-19, including the mass vaccination rollout, expanded testing, more personal protective equipment, and support for contact tracing..With a $3.1 billion capital budget – the same as the last year’s – this budget marks the start of $11.6 billion in capital spending planned over the next four years..Crown corporations lead this budget with $1.6 billion, including $937.6 million by SaskPower to meet increased demand for power infrastructure..The province plans to spend $553.2 million on transportation, most of which goes to highway upgrades..The budget dedicates $189.9 million for education capital, including work on 16 new schools and $162 million in healthcare projects..After a drop of real GDP growth of 4.2 per cent last year, the budget projects a 3.4 per cent real GDP growth in 2021..Saskatchewan projects $14.5 billion in revenues this year with $7.2 billion from taxes, a rise of 6.1 per cent from the previous fiscal year..This includes $2.9 billion in transfers from the federal government and $1.3 billion from non-renewable resources..Some other vital assumptions include a West Texas Intermediate oil price of $54.33 US per barrel and $191 US per tonne for potash, providing $505.1 million and $431.8 million in royalties, respectively..With plans to balance the budget in 2026-27, the province looks significantly better than Alberta’s plan, which has no timeline to balance the budget, and Quebec’s budget plans to balance the books in 2027-28..Saskatchewan is still behind Nova Scotia, and its plan to balance the budget in 2024-25..“Tackling the deficit won’t be easy, but it won’t get easier if we procrastinate,” said MacKay..“We’re already spending three-quarters of a billion dollars on interest payments, and we need to get a handle on spending before interest costs chew up even more budget.”.The Saskatchewan budget now projects a deficit of $2.6 billion. The province’s taxpayer-supported debt is projected to hit $17.9 billion this year and soar to $25.2 billion by 2025..This year, Saskatchewan will spend $755 million to cover the interest charges on the debt..The province will have projected deficits of $1.7 billion, $ 1.2 billion and $770 million before the next provincial election..Total debt is expected to rise from a forecasted $23.6 billion this year to $36.4 billion in 2025. But at 19 per cent, the province’s debt-to-GDP ratio is tied with Alberta for the lowest among provinces..Dhaliwal is an Edmonton reporter for the Western Standard
