On April 19, 2016, Nova Scotia Finance and Treasury Board
Minister Randy Delorey tabled the province's 2016-17 budget.
The budget forecasts a deficit of $71.2 million for 2015-2016, down
from the estimated deficit of $97.6 million. A surplus of $127.4
million is projected for 2016-17, with a net surplus position of
$17.1 million after accounting for a one-time revenue increase of
$110.3 million in respect of federal and municipal contributions
towards the Halifax Convention Centre (which are not considered
part of normal revenues). Surpluses of $20.8 million, $79.0 million
and $132.5 million are projected for 2017-18, 2018-19 and 2019-20
respectively. Nova Scotia is one of only a few jurisdictions in
Canada to have a budgeted surplus. Due to a revision to historical
GDP values by Statistics Canada, the debt-to-GDP ratio for
2015-2016 will be 37.9%, instead of the 36.3% projected in last
year's budget. This ratio is expected to decline to 37.1% for
2016-2017.
