‘Back on track’: Provincial debt $1.14 billion lower than projected, Harpauer says

Saskatchewan’s finances are recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic faster than anticipated, according to Finance Minister Donna Harpauer.

Harpauer released Volume 1 of Saskatchewan’s Public Accounts 2021-2022 on Thursday, showing that higher potash, oil  and natural gas prices at the end of 2021 and for the first three months of 2022 meant a lot more money coming in from non-renewable resource revenues.

That, along with higher personal income, corporate income and sales tax revenue, added up a deficit of $1.47 billion on March 31, the end of the fiscal year. That’s $1.14 billion lower than what the government initially projected.

Total revenue was $18.14 billion, up $3.66 billion from the 2021-2022 budget projection.

Public debt, as of March 31, was at $27.24 billion. That was down $529 million, partly because of a lower deficit.

“Saskatchewan’s improvement through the fiscal year, and its strong financial plan, has the province back on track,” Harpauer said.

“Saskatchewan is poised to be among the leaders in the country in economic growth in 2022, according to private sector forecasts based on continued high commodity prices, increased private sector investment, and a return to more normal year for agriculture.”

Despite calls for government support as residents struggle with inflation, the financial improvement doesn’t mean that any gas tax reduction or rebates are on the horizon. Harpauer said the government is going to wait until their first quarter financial results are available in August before making any decisions.

“If you get a bonus for a month or two, you don’t want to escalate your spending to the level of the bonus, because it may not follow through for the entire 12 months,” she said. “We are seeing strength. Will it hold for 12 months? We don’t know.”

Harpauer said the government is “not going to spend what we’re not assured will be there.”

NDP Finance Critic Trent Wotherspoon said the provincial government is not only being dishonest about how much money it’s sitting on right now, but is also deliberately misleading people.

“The SaskParty government is flush on windfall revenues that they’ve misled Saskatchewan people as to the true state of our finances,” he said.

With the cost of living skyrocketing, Wotherspoon said the NDP is calling on the province to stop expanding PST and to immediately give everyone in the province a gas and cost of living rebate, and to suspend the provincial gas tax.

“It’s inexcusable what we see from Premier (Scott) Moe and the SaskParty, to continue to delay and kick the can down the road to offer any relief, suggesting now that they’re possibly going to respond in the fall,” he added.

Harpauer said she would take suggestions over the summer from members of the party caucus, and they’ll then consider how affordable those suggestions are.