The provincial government has released it's last quarterly report for the 2023-24 fiscal year.
In this news release, Finance Minister Adrien Sala is quoted as saying “Over the past year, we’ve done a lot of work to put Manitoba back on track.", claiming the NDP were left with a much higher deficit than they expected.
The province’s summary financial position as of March 31, 2024, is a deficit of $1.97 billion, in line with the third quarter update and an increase of $1.6 billion from the projected 2023-24 budget deficit of $363 million.
The final audited results for the 2023-24 fiscal year show a major factor was a drop in revenue from Crown-owned Manitoba Hydro, where dry weather and low water levels turned an expected profit into a loss.
The province also released its first quarter forecast for 2024-25, which provides a forecast to the fiscal year-end as of June 30.
The forecast for fiscal year 2024-25 is a net loss of $796 million, representing no change from Budget 2024. Total revenue is forecast at $23.3 billion while total expenses are forecast at $24.1 billion.
