Ontario Returning to Budget Deficit in Pre-Election Policy Shift

(Bloomberg) -- Ontario is breaking a pledge to balance its budget in the next fiscal year as it shifts back into deficit-financing ahead of a provincial election in June.

Canada's most populous province will return to deficit after balancing its books in 2017-18, the only year in the past decade, Finance Minister Charles Sousa said Wednesday. The province plans to run a deficit of less than 1 percent of gross domestic product in 2018-19 and will have “a clear plan to track back to balance,” he said.

“We are making this choice deliberately,” Sousa said in a speech in Toronto, announcing he will table the budget on March 28. “We are choosing to put our strengthened fiscal position to work.”

The finance minister didn't specify when Ontario would return to balance. In last year's budget the province had forecast it would balance the budget in 2017-18 for the first time since 2008 and every year through 2020.

Ontario Premier Kathleen Wynne's Liberal Party is facing an election in June amid declining popularity and frustration over high electricity bills. The government is following in the footsteps of its federal counterpart in spending to support growth.

Sousa said Ontario's 2018-19 budget will be built around supporting growth and job opportunities, ensuring benefits and opportunities are widely shared while making sure the province remains competitive and attractive for investment and business.

To contact the reporter on this story: Maciej Onoszko in Toronto at monoszko@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher DeReza at cdereza1@bloomberg.net, Jacqueline Thorpe, Theophilos Argitis

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