Fredericton, NB: The Canadian Taxpayers Federation is applauding the Higgs government’s sixth consecutive balanced budget, but is urging the government to deliver tax relief and exercise more spending restraint.

“The Higgs government deserves tremendous credit for balancing the budget for the sixth straight year and continuing to lower New Brunswick’s overall debt burden,” said CTF Interim Atlantic Director Jay Goldberg. “But with revenue up by $1.1 billion over 2023 levels, the government missed a real opportunity to lower the tax burden for hardworking families.”

Both revenue and expenses are up for 2024, increasing from $12.2 billion to $13.3 billion.

The government is projecting a small surplus of $40.9 million for the 2024-25 fiscal year.

Debt interest payments continue to go down, with interest charges expected to be $608 million this fiscal year.

“This budget is balanced on a knife’s edge because of $1.1 billion in new spending,” said Goldberg. “Had Premier Blaine Higgs kept spending growth at the rate of inflation, New Brunswickers could have gotten hundreds of millions of dollars in tax relief. Instead, Higgs chose to increase spending by nine per cent over 2023 levels and taxpayers were left out in the cold.”

New Brunswick’s provincial debt has decreased by more than $2 billion since the Higgs government took office in 2018.

“The Higgs government certainly has a strong record in tackling the province’s debt problem,” said Goldberg. “Unfortunately, the spending restraint the Higgs government exercised in previous years was missing from this year’s budget.”