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REGINA — Saskatchewan’s finance minister says it’s going to be tough to eliminate the province’s deficit by 2024 and the government is likely to pick a new goal.
Donna Harpauer says the province’s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic is going slower than hoped.
During last fall’s provincial election, Premier Scott Moe campaigned on a promise to eliminate Saskatchewan’s $2-billion deficit by 2024.
He also promised it wouldn’t happen through increasing taxes or slashing services.
Harpauer says the Saskatchewan Party government believes in having a plan for eliminating the deficit, but it won’t make irresponsible cuts to meet its goal.
She says with a slower economic recovery, it’s going to be “very, very difficult” to get back to balance by 2024.
The government is to present its 2021-22 budget on April 6.
“We still haven’t taken in our final projections, so I guess there’s a faint hope,” Harpauer told The Canadian Press on Monday.
“But the way the projections are coming in, in all good likelihood, we’ll have to change that goalpost.”
The Canadian Press