B.C. plans a $9.7-billion deficit to build COVID recovery: minister
Dirk Meissner, The Canadian Press
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VICTORIA -- The British Columbia government plans to spend $8.7 billion over three years on infrastructure as well as on supports for families and businesses to help build the economic recovery from COVID-19.
Finance Minister Selina Robinson said Tuesday the deficit for the 2021-22 budget is projected to be $9.7 billion, lower than the $13.6 billion forecast last December, due to higher-than-expected revenues and lower government spending.
The budget forecasts three consecutive years of billion-dollar deficits with the provincial debt hitting almost $103 billion and the prospect of a return to balanced books in seven to nine years' time, Robinson said at a news conference.