Ontario’s fiscal watchdog to release latest assessment of province’s economy today
Posted Dec 10, 2018 05:00:04 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO — Ontario’s financial watchdog is set to release his latest assessment of the province’s economy and the government’s fiscal outlook this morning.
Financial Accountability Officer Peter Weltman is expected to discuss his fall economic and budget outlook at a news conference at 10 a.m.
It will be his first such report since the Progressive Conservatives took office in June.
The FAO issued its spring economic outlook just weeks before the provincial election, saying the province’s deficit would jump to almost $12 billion in 2018 as a result of higher spending in the budget presented by the then-governing Liberals, as well as weak revenue gains.
The Liberals had projected a deficit of $6.7 billion, a figure that was also called into question by Ontario’s auditor general.
The Tories have since accepted the auditor general’s accounting but say a commission of inquiry and financial review convened to examine government spending found the province’s deficit will grow to $15 billion this year.
Weltman, meanwhile, announced this summer he would look into the new government’s cancellation of the cap-and-trade program in order to determine how much that decision will end up costing the province.
The Canadian Press
