finance minister eric girard insisted monday that quebec’s plan to “optimize” operations and generate efficiencies of $2.9 billion over five years won’t involve massive job cuts in areas such as education and health care.
productivity gains from initiatives such as the creation of a digital health records system will deliver some of the expected savings, girard said at an event hosted by the chamber of commerce of metropolitan montreal. quebec could also choose to slow government hiring during the period and not replace all retiring employees, he added.
girard unveiled the savings drive last tuesday as he tabled a 2024-25 budget that projects a record $11 billion deficit for the province. he also said the government would spend the next year reviewing all expenditure programs in a bid to return to budget balance by the end of the decade.
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cuts to business tax credits will be the single biggest contributor to the efficiency effort, generating $1.04 billion over five years, girard said last week. hydro-québec , loto-québec and other state-owned companies will also be asked to come up with $1 billion — combined — through unspecified “optimization efforts,” while tougher tax audit and collection measures bring in $563 million and higher tobacco levies yield another $300 million.
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much of quebec’s long-term balanced-budget ambitions depend on a gradual drop in interest rates , which would fuel economic growth and boost government revenue. many private-sector economists predict that the bank of canada will start cutting rates in the second half of 2024, by as many as 100 basis points.
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