Budget will continue to move toward balance, says Manitoba premier

Manitoba’s Progressive Conservative government is to release its annual budget on March 11.

Premier Brian Pallister says the budget will continue to move the province toward balanced books after a decade of deficits.

The Tories are predicting a deficit of $350 million for the current fiscal year, which ends next month, and have promised to be in the black by 2022-23.

Pallister says the budget will include specific initiatives to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, although he won’t reveal details.

Pallister hasn’t said whether the budget will include a new carbon tax.

The province is fighting the federal government’s tax, which is to rise to $50 a tonne in 2022, and wants to introduce its own tax at a lower rate.