A $2.6-billion budget surplus for the 2017-2018 fiscal year

QUÉBEC CITY, Dec. 4, 2018 /CNW Telbec/ - Minister of Finance Eric Girard today tabled in the National Assembly the Public Accounts for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2018. The Public Accounts are available on the Ministère des Finances website (www.finances.gouv.qc.ca).

The government's annual surplus for the 2017-2018 fiscal year stands at $4 915 million. Bearing in mind the payments of $2 293 million to the Generations Fund, the budget surplus within the meaning of the Balanced Budget Act is $2 622 million, $1 772 million higher than the preliminary data presented in the March 27, 2018 Budget Speech.

The improved financial performance stems, by and large, from $1.2 billion in additional revenues as a result of an additional $828 million in income and property taxes and an additional $358 million in revenues from government enterprises. Spending declined by $565 million in the wake of lower-than-forecast spending on the government's missions.

The stabilization reserve stood at $7.2 billion as at March 31, 2018

The Act stipulates the establishment of a stabilization reserve to enable the government to protect itself against external shocks, such as deteriorating economic conditions, and to ensure public services. The budget surplus for the 2017-2018 fiscal year thus facilitated a $2 622 million payment to the stabilization reserve, which brings the balance of the reserve to $7 174 million as at March 31, 2018.

Opinion of the Auditor General of Québec on the government's consolidated financial statements as at March 31, 2018

Accounting standard respecting transfer payments

The Auditor General of Québec concluded that the government's consolidated financial statements comply with its accounting policies. She also concluded that they comply with the Canadian Public Sector Accounting Standards, except for the standard governing transfer payments. This reserve has been renewed since 2012-2013.

In this respect, the Ministère des Finances reiterates its interpretation concerning the authorization of a transfer expenditure, which was clearly presented in Budget 2012-2013, Budget 2013-2014 and Budget 2014-2015. Four independent professional chartered accounting firms also confirmed its interpretation in 2012.

Government investment in the S.E.C. C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership

Moreover, the Auditor General of Québec concluded that the loss in value that the government sustained on its $1 306-million investment in the C Series Aircraft Limited Partnership could not be significant as at March 31, 2018. Accordingly, her report no longer contains a reserve respecting this investment.

APPENDIX 1

COMPARISON OF FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE AND THE BUDGETARY BALANCE WITH THOSE FORECAST IN BUDGET 2018-2019

YEAR ENDED MARCH 31, 2018
(millions of dollars)
			2017-2018
			BUDGET 2018-2019 (March 27, 2018)		REVISION		REAL RESULTS
CONSOLIDATED REVENUE
Income and property taxes			45 306		828		46 134
Consumption taxes			20 299		30		20 329
Duties and licences			3 947		18		3 965
Miscellaneous revenue			10 240		158		10 398
Own-source revenue excluding government  enterprises			79 792		1 034		80 826
Revenue from government enterprises			4 735		358		5 093
Federal transfers			22 669		(184)		22 485
TOTAL, CONSOLIDATED REVENUE			107 196		1 208		108 404
	% change		4.2		1.0		5.2
CONSOLIDATED EXPENDITURE
Mission expenditures			(94 817)		568		(94 249)
Debt service			(9 237)		(3)		(9 240)
TOTAL, CONSOLIDATED EXPENDITURE			(104 054)		565		(103 489)
% change			5.6		(0.8)		4.8
ANNUAL SURPLUS			3 142		1 773		4 915
BALANCED BUDGET ACT
Revenue from the Generations Fund			(2 292)		(1)		(2 293)
BUDGETARY BALANCE WITHIN THE MEANING OF THE BALANCED BUDGET ACT			850		1 772		2 622

SOURCE Cabinet du ministre des Finances

Fanny Beaudry-Campeau, Press Relations Officer, Office of the Minister of Finance, 418-576-2786