FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
[La version française suit le texte anglais.]
FAO RELEASES THIRD QUARTER 2019-20 EXPENDITURE MONITOR
TORONTO, March 4, 2020 – The Financial Accountability Office of Ontario (FAO) has released its Expenditure Monitor 2019-20: Q3. This report provides information on spending by the Province over the first nine months of the 2019-20 fiscal year (as of December 31, 2019), including changes to the 2019 budget spending plan, actual spending results compared to planned spending and an updated budget deficit projection.
Since the introduction of the 2019 Ontario Budget, the Province has increased its spending plan for this year by $2.5 billion. The budgets for health, education, children’s and social services, and electricity cost subsidy programs all received funding increases.
Although the 2019-20 spending plan has increased by $2.5 billion, the FAO’s review of spending results by the Province over the first nine months of 2019-20 shows that actual spending was $2.0 billion lower than planned. If this pace of actual-to-planned spending continues, the FAO projects a 2019-20 budget deficit of $6.1 billion, lower than the government’s budget deficit forecast of $9.0 billion in the Third Quarter Finances.
To learn more, read the full report here.
QUICK FACTS
- Over the first three quarters of the 2019-20 fiscal year, the Province spent $112.4 billion compared to planned spending of $114.4 billion. Overall, spending was $2.0 billion or 1.7 per cent lower than planned.
- The FAO noted that all expense sectors are spending less than planned through the first three quarters of the 2019-20 fiscal year, except for the education sector where spending was $576 million higher than planned.
- Many infrastructure programs are spending less than budgeted, including projects for hospitals, schools and public transit.
About the FAO
Established by the Financial Accountability Officer Act, 2013, the Financial Accountability Office (FAO) provides independent analysis on the state of the Province’s finances, trends in the provincial economy and related matters important to the Legislative Assembly of Ontario. Visit http://www.fao-on.org/en/ and follow us on Twitter at https://twitter.com/InfoFAO.
-30-
For further information, please contact:
Jessica Martin | 647 527 2385 | JMartin@fao-on.org | fao-on.org