Faced with the prospect of years of multibillion-dollar deficits, Ontario
will have to cut more than a billion dollars in
spending if it wants to balance the books next year,
according to an economic update released Wednesday.
In his first economic statement since the Liberals defeated the
Tories in the October election, Finance Minister Greg Sorbara refused
to say whether the government would opt to continue to
run deficits in future years.
He was also vague about what cuts might come as
the Liberals deal with an expected $5.6-billion deficit this year,
but assured voters that personal income tax increases are not
on the table.
"This is not a one-year problem," Sorbara told the legislature.
"We have a serious long-term problem. It is a problem
rooted in a chronic mismatch of revenues and expenditures that
has been growing over the past several years."
Finance Ministry figures released Wednesday show that even with strong
economic growth and higher revenues, the projected fiscal shortfall this
year would shrink to only about $4.5 billion two years
from now without government restraint. Source.
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