Leave a commentMcGuinty Government’s Open Ontario Plan On Track To Eliminate Deficit
Ontario released the 2009-10 Public Accounts which highlights the government’s actions to lessen the impact of the global recession on Ontarians as well as a responsible plan to eliminate the deficit by 2017-18.
The government is making record investments in infrastructure including short-term stimulus investments which are expected to create and sustain more than 300,000 jobs across the province over two years.
The province will continue to make key investments through its five-year
Open Ontario plan, which supports job creation and enhances the programs and services Ontarians value, including education, health care and skills training.
As a result of responsible fiscal management and an improving economy in Ontario, the final deficit for the 2009-10 fiscal year is $19.3 billion, which is $5.4 billion lower than the initial forecast made in the Fall of 2009 and $2 billion lower than the March 2010 Budget forecast.
QUOTES
“While there are signs of positive economic growth in Ontario, we will continue to monitor the economic situation around the world. Our Open Ontario plan lays out a path to create jobs, grow the economy and eliminate the deficit. We are following this plan, and it is delivering positive results”
– Dwight Duncan
Minister of Finance
QUICK FACTS
- The Public Accounts of Ontario present the financial statements of the province, provide financial highlights of the past fiscal year and report on performance against the goals set out in the 2009 Budget.
- Revenues for 2009-10 were $95.8 billion – $6.7 billion below the 2009 Budget forecast. This is mainly due to a deeper than expected recession and the lagging effects of the global financial crisis.
- Expenses for 2009-10 were $115.1 billion – $2.6 billion lower than the 2010 Budget estimate. This is largely due to the increase in value of the investment the province made in the auto sector, which reduced government expense by almost $1 billion, lower interest on debt of $0.2 billion and ministry program expenditures being $1.4 billion below projected levels.
- In 2008-09, Ontario spending on general government services was $134 per person which is 28 per cent below the average of other provincial governments and the second lowest among the provinces.