Wednesday, September 11, 2019

BC Government still sees sunny financial skies; but ICBC and global uncertainty make for gathering clouds



Finance Minister Carole James provided a bit of a Financial update for the province on Tuesday, with Ms. James generally noting that the first quarterly results confirm the solid footing that the province is on as they begin the process of crafting the next NDP government budget.

“Over the past two years, we have shown that putting people first is good for the economy and good for our province. We will continue to monitor and adapt to global economic volatility and trade uncertainty, but our plan is working, and our economy is resilient. By investing in the people who power our province, we are building a more sustainable economy that will pay dividends for years to come.”

Among the notes from the September overview was how the government’s first-quarter forecast demonstrates that B.C. is on solid fiscal footing, and will be an economic leader in Canada despite a changing and more volatile global economic environment.

However, it also highlighted how ICBC remains a significant risk to the Province’s finances, and that the government remains committed to getting ICBC back on a solid fiscal track.

The presentation also observed how the Province's Surplus has decreased by 95 million dollars while total provincial revenues have decreased by $153 million, with larges hit coming from areas related to the Property Transfer Tax.







When it comes to the risks facing the BC economy three of the main risk areas involve the impact of global uncertainty on trade and commodity prices



Ms. James also provided a guide as to what's ahead when it comes to the Budget process, with the Government set to start its 2020 process in the fall with the Budget to be delivered on February 18th.



You can review two streams of information related to the Ministers overview of Tuesday

Copies of Current and Past Quarterly Reports

First Quarterly Report Presentation

More on Tuesday's overview can be found here.

For further background on Provincial issues see our Legislature Archive page.

More background on the Finance Minister's presentation, can be accessed from our Victoria Viewpoints page.

Cross posted from the North Coast Review.

No comments:

Post a Comment