Manitoba revenue, spending targets unrealistic, Opposition Tories say

The Manitoba government’s plan to balance the budget in two years will require tighter financial restraint than in recent years and steady growth in revenues.

The provincial budget released this week fleshes out the NDP government’s promise to end a string of deficits in 2027.

To get there, annual spending growth will be limited to about two per cent next year and the year after.

The Opposition Progressive Conservatives say that’s unrealistic, as spending is rising this year by more than five per cent and the deficit last year jumped by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Finance Minister Adrien Sala says recent spending increases have been driven by pay increases for public-sector workers following years of little or no increases under the former Tory government.

He says the same kind of increase in overall pay costs is not expected next year and the year after.