Canada's Ontario province set to release 2020 budget on Nov. 5
TORONTO (Reuters) - Ontario, Canada's most populous province and one of the world's biggest sub-sovereign borrowers, will release its budget for the 2020-2021 fiscal year on Nov. 5, Finance Minister Rod Phillips said on Monday.
The province would normally table its budget in the spring but it was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. It is seeing continuing spikes in COVID-19 cases and has recently reinstated some restrictions on businesses.
"The upcoming budget will strike a balance that will focus on continuing to protect everyone's health and safety, while creating the right conditions for our economic recovery," said Phillips in a news release, adding that it will provide a three-year outlook.
In August, Ontario's Progressive Conservative party government boosted projected COVID-19 support measures to C$30 billion, forecasting it would run a record budget deficit of C$38.5 billion ($29.1 billion) in the current fiscal year, which began in April.
Earlier this month, the province said that real gross domestic product declined by 12.3% in the second quarter.
It will move back to its traditional budget calendar, providing by the end of March 2021 another multi-year update that will outline a plan to return the province to a fiscally sustainable path, Phillips said.
(Reporting by Fergal Smith; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
