The BC Government says the forecast deficit for this fiscal year is $13.6 billion, which is an increase of nearly $900 million since the most recent budget forecast in September.

In the past three months, Finance Minister Selina Robinson says projected revenues have gone up by $1.4 billion, but projected expenses have increased by $2.3 billion.

Robinson says the majority of the expenses come from the BC Recovery Benefit, which most adults in the province can begin applying for tomorrow.

The province says this year’s deficit includes more than $10 billion in spending as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The largest revenue increases are from property transfer taxes ($479 million), transfers from the federal government ($363 million), better-than-expected revenues at Crown corporations ($298 million), and income taxes ($249 million).

The province’s gross domestic product is expected to by 6.2 per cent by the end of the fiscal year, on March 31, and the GDP is then expected to grow by three per cent in the 2021 fiscal year. Robinson says those figures are an improved outlook from the fiscal update given three months ago.

Robinson also gave a date for when the 2021 budget will be unveiled, saying it will come out on April 20. The fiscal year starts on April 1 and the budget rollout will happen two months later than normal.

“When we took a look at what we need, in terms of putting together a meaningful, robust plan for the next year, next three years, we sat down with the public service and identified how much time they needed to do this. As well as, took a look at the implications of the (COVID-19) vaccine rollout, and how that’s going to impact the economy,” Robinson says.