According to the 2018-19 final accounts, the provincial government finished the fiscal year with a smaller deficit than was predicted.
The final deficit was $268 million, which is $35 million less than the previous year and $97 million lower than was budgeted.
Finance Minister Donna Harpauer credits the good result to a 3.1 per cent increase in revenue from the prior fiscal year — about $430 million, in monetary terms. That revenue, Harpauer noted, is largely from non-renewable resources like potash, which recorded the highest increase in revenue at 74 per cent compared to the precious year.
Non-renewable resources saw revenues up $253 million, an increase of 19 per cent from the last year.
Total expense for the 2018-19 year was $14.72 billion, which is higher than last year by $395 million.
Total revenue for the year was $14.45 billion, an increase of $430 million compared to last year.
The announcement of the official deficit has Harpauer and the Saskatchewan government confident in their balanced budget proposed for 2019-20.
“Each fiscal year has its own set of unique factors that impact our budget,” Harpauer said in the press release. “Weather, natural disasters, global commodity prices, financial markets and interest rates can all affect the province’s bottom line, and we will continue to manage these risks and variables responsibly on behalf of the people of Saskatchewan.”
