ATLANTIC

Highlights of New Brunswick provincial budget

THE CANADIAN PRESS Published Tuesday, February 7, 2017 1:32PM AST

New Brunswick Finance Minister Cathy Rogers addresses media after officially releasing the 2017-2018 provincial budget in Fredericton, N.B., on Tuesday, February 7, 2017. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/James West)

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FREDERICTON -- New Brunswick Finance Minister Cathy Rogers tabled an $9.4 billion budget for 2017-18 on Tuesday. Here are some of the highlights:

A projected deficit of $192 million, with a projection of a balanced budget by 2020-21. The deficit no longer includes the contingency fund.
The provincial debt will reach $14.4 billion by the end of March 2018, or about $19,000 for every man, woman and child in New Brunswick.
Servicing the public debt will cost $701 million, the government's fifth highest expense.
The province will invest an additional $56 million in education, including a doubling of the budget for daycare assistance starting Jan. 1, 2018.
Spending is up by 3.6 per cent, while revenues being raised through taxation are up four per cent.
Spending on tourism programs is going up almost 18 per cent, to about $60.2 million.