Measures Announced to Reduce Administrative Costs

Finance Minister Neil LeBlanc has announced a series of measures to reduce administrative costs.

The reductions are directed at areas such as new hires, travel, purchases and new initiatives. A directive to all departments to reduce non-essential spending was issued Friday, Sept. 17.

"During the election, we made a commitment to reduce the cost of government by cutting non-essential spending," said Mr. LeBlanc. "Today, we are delivering on that promise.

"We believe these measures show we respect the trust taxpayers put in us to spend their dollars wisely. It also helps address a very significant gap between our revenues and the government spending commitments that were put in place earlier this year. The one area we have some flexibility on this fiscal year is discretionary administrative expenses."

An updated forecast for year-end results for 1998-99 will be released later this month. Full government spending plans will be tabled with the budget planned for later in October.

"Nova Scotians will soon see the full financial picture, and the need for these reductions will be abundantly clear," said Mr. LeBlanc. "We also recognize that much more needs to be done. That is why we are also establishing an internal process to look at all government programs, their costs, their relevance today, and possible alternatives."

This internal process will be complemented by an external review of government operations. The details of this process will be announced before the budget.