Province Issues 2010-11 Public Accounts

The province's public accounts for 2010-11, released today, July 28, show Nova Scotia is making good progress on the Back to Balance fiscal plan.

A better-than-expected economic performance during the recession and controlled government spending contributed to a surplus of $569.1 million for 2010-11, rather than the $222.1 million deficit estimated during the 2010 budget and up from $447.2 million surplus forecast in April.

"Nova Scotia's books for the last fiscal year have been written not in red ink, but in black," said Finance Minister Graham Steele. "These results are gratifying and confirm we are restoring some sense to the province's finances."

Total expenses in 2010-11 were $9.3 billion, a decrease of $171.5 million over the previous year. Additional appropriations, funds used to cover unbudgeted expenses and spending, continue to be down from past years. Additional appropriations in 2010-11 were $63.5 million, significantly less than the annual average of $276.9 million between 1999 and 2009.

Total revenues in 2010-11 were $9.9 billion, an increase of $666.1 million over the previous year and $509.7 million more than estimated. Similar to other Canadian jurisdictions, major revenue sources increased over last year including personal income tax (7.1 per cent), corporate income tax (12.6 per cent), harmonized sales tax (24.6 per cent) and tobacco tax (6.4 per cent).

Nova Scotia's net debt has decreased by $217.8 million to $12.8 billion. The surplus offset a net investment in capital assets of $354.2 million, contributing to the reduction in net debt. In April 2010, it was estimated that the province's net debt at the end of 2010-11 would be $14 billion. By not reaching this higher debt level, the province will avoid about $55 million annually in debt servicing costs.

This reduction in the net debt decreased the province's net debt to gross domestic product ratio 2.4 percentage points from 38.1 per cent in 2010 to 35.7 per cent in 2011.

The consolidated financial statements for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011 are prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles for the public sector. Nova Scotia's auditor general has provided an unqualified auditor's report that is included in Public Accounts Volume 1.

The public accounts documents are available online at www.gov.ns.ca/finance/en/home/publications/publicaccounts .