As promised, the PST has dropped from 8 per cent to 7 per cent. That will come into effect on Canada Day. The drop will save the average Manitoba family $239 this year and 500 dollars on average for future years.
This year, the province’s deficit will drop to 360 million dollars, down from the projected marker of 470 million dollars for the 2018-19 fiscal year.
Provincial spending is expected to increase by 57 million dollars this year to a total of 17.48 billion dollars. Manitoba’s debt is expected to rise to 26.1 billion dollars. In 2018-19 the debt rose 902 million dollars because of the 360 million dollar deficit and 542 million dollars in capital spending.
The largest increases in the budget are 130 million into education and 18 million into sport, culture, and heritage.
The biggest cut is health, losing 120 million dollars because there’s less spending on hospitals and equipment.
Municipality funding is static.
