B.C. government's $9.7 billion budget deficit forecast turns into $1.3 billion surplus
The medical impacts were front and centre and the economic effects were just taking hold. The unemployment rate had doubled and social activity was curbed. B.C. was budgeting $9 billion to cope with the first wave and provide relief, an enormous new strain on resources.
The Finance Ministry expected a $9.7-billion deficit when the budget was first tabled. It’s now turned into a $1.3-billion surplus. The fairy tale bounce-back happened largely due to an explosion in economic activity when pent-up appetites were unleashed as COVID let up, for at least a while.Finance Minister Selina Robinson said it was “unexpected,” but that doesn’t begin to describe it.
The difference between the projected estimates and the actual numbers is heightened by the government’s penchant for being hyper-conservative when it comes to expecting the worst. B.C.’s economy opened faster than forecast and the Finance Ministry highlighted one contributor to that strength — increased migration. Just over 100,000 people moved to B.C. last year, about one third from Canada, two-thirds from other countries. It’s the largest net migration increase in 16 years. The downside is that it put pressure on the housing market, which is where a fair chunk of the revenue bonanza to the government originated.
The public accounts are a five-month-old snapshot, and a lot has changed since the books closed March 31.
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