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The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.

Manitoba's second quarter financial report for 2003-04 projects a positive balance of $5 million despite significant, unanticipated expenditures required to address the BSE crisis, a near-record forest fire season and serious drought conditions, Finance Minister Greg Selinger said Friday. Selinger announced that, despite the challenges of the past summer, the province will follow through on planned personal income and business tax reductions, effective Jan. 1, 2004. The reductions will save taxpayers $39 million annually and businesses $26 million annually. See 'Meet' P.# Con't from P.# Selinger also confirmed that the province will follow through on its $96 million debt and pension repayment plan. The $98 million projected draw from the fiscal stabilization fund (FSF) will allow the province to continue to pay down the debt while also addressing the emergency expenditures of BSE, forest fire and drought. "We will meet our commitments to balanced budget legislation, to paying down the debt and pension liability, and to following through on planned tax reductions. But the emergency expenditures that emerged this summer will mean as much as $49 million more from the FSF," he added. Earlier, Selinger told the legislature that more than $68 million in emergency expenditures was needed to help meet the challenges of forest fires and the devastating effects of the closure of the U.S. border to Canadian beef. In addition, drought conditions have severely reduced revenues from hydro and new smoking regulations in Winnipeg have led to lower than anticipated lottery revenues. "However, Statistics Canada has determined that our population is higher than previously estimated. This is the primary reason for a projected $141 million increase in additional federal transfer revenue, which will help meet pressures in health care, justice, election costs and increased tax credit payments," Selinger said. Selinger said a cross-departmental committee is working to trim in-year costs through a variety of measures including managing vacancies, deferring discretionary and non-essential spending and reviewing program effectiveness. He said he believes continuing these efforts can reduce the additional draw on the FSF. In the second quarter report, net expenditures were $28.2 million lower than estimated for the six month period. Current forecasts project a revenue increase of $120 million to year end, mostly due to increased federal transfers as a result of improved population figures. Selinger said he was pleased that the federal government was committed to directing this year's federal surplus towards provincial health care needs. Continuing pressures in health care underscore the need for improved federal health funding as outlined in the Romanow report, the minister added. Selinger noted that with this report Manitoba has reduced its exposure to U.S. debt to zero for its general purpose borrowings. This year's lower interest rates have reduced borrowing costs a further $11 million. "This is a volatile time for provincial government finances all across the country," Selinger said. "Our goal is to maintain the core services Manitobans depend on while fulfilling our commitments to Manitobans including continuing to balance the budget."

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