(Photo Credit: Government of New Brunswick)
The provincial government has announced a $673.4 million capital budget for 2021-22.
That represents a $74 million increase in spending over last year, with a majority of the funds going toward healthcare, highway and road maintenance, and childcare.
Little was announced in the way of specific project funding during Tuesday’s session of the legislature. However, Finance Minister Ernie Steeves said the budget drafting was influenced greatly by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
“The capital budget reflects the times we live in, as the decisions our government has taken considers the impact of the pandemic, the economic recovery, and fiscal responsibility,” Steeves said.
$307.7 million will go toward highway maintenance and improvement, while $128.2 has been earmarked for healthcare, and $72.6 is set to go toward K-12 education infrastructure.
Individual ministers will introduce specific projects by the end of December.
Steeves said there are ups and downs expected in 2021-22 in economic fallout due to the economic impacts of the pandemic.
“We’ve made strides in recent years to improve our fiscal standing, but COVID-19 has upended the progress,” he said. “It doesn’t mean we should no longer be fiscally disciplined. Rather, this pandemic has highlighted the need to always be diligent with the public finances of the province.”
