One billion dollars, that’s the surplus for the 2022/2023 fiscal year.

New Brunswick’s Finance Minister released financial statements today, with figures until March 31st.

This amount is $150 million higher than projected in the third quarter.

Ernie Steeves says unprecedented revenue improvements combined with strong population and income growth in recent years have contributed to a surplus of $1 billion for the 2022-23 fiscal year.

Total revenues were $38 million higher than third-quarter projections while expenses were $112 million lower.

New Brunswick’s net debt was $12.4 billion as of March 31, a decrease of $359.2 compared to the previous year; the net debt-to-GDP ratio decreased to 26.8 percent from 30.0 percent.

The province’s net debt now includes $422 million in estimated asset retirement costs due to the adoption of a new accounting standard.

This is the sixth surplus in a row reported by the province.

Steeves admits projections were closer this time than in the previous, “We finished with closer projections this time than seven of the other jurisdictions in Canada. We’re doing all right, but the fact of the matter is, we’re not seeing the same early signs of extraordinary revenue that we did over the past two years. So it is looking like things are going to normalize.”

He adds,  “While the surplus does not represent cash on hand, it reduces deficits accumulated in previous years when operations were financed through borrowings, provides for added financial flexibility on a go-forward basis, and informs the discussion on future tax and spending decisions.”

The 2022-23 consolidated financial statements are available online.