N.S. finance minister expected to cut spending in next week’s provincial budget

Nova Scotians are bracing for government spending cuts as Finance Minister John Lohr gets set to deliver his budget on Monday for the new fiscal year.

Lohr said in December he had asked all government departments what a 10 per cent rollback of programs and grants would look like, but said he would likely not accept every recommendation.

The government has already started cutting some services, announcing Thursday it was closing three provincial museums as well as several tourist information centres.

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The minister has already ruled out tax and fee increases.

Governments across the country are struggling to balance the books and Nova Scotia’s original $700-million deficit for the current fiscal year had grown to almost $1.3 billion as of December.

In January Premier Tim Houston said the deficit had climbed to $1.4 billion.

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Nova Scotia deficit projection rises by more than 70 per cent to record $1.2 billion