Ontario is finally stanching the bleeding of red ink.

Finance Minister Charles Sousa says the deficit for 2016-17 is now projected to be $1.9 billion, the lowest it has been since before the worldwide economic meltdown nine years ago.

In last February’s budget, Sousa had estimated the shortfall for this fiscal year would be $4.3 billion.

The improvement is due to $1.04 billion in higher corporate tax revenues, $803 million in increased harmonized sales tax proceeds, and an additional $728 million in personal income taxes collected.

Speaking to reporters at the MaRS Discovery District, which recently repaid $290 million in government loans three years ahead of scheduled, Sousa said he would finally balance the books in the spring budget.

The minister promised the budget would also be in the black next year and in 2019.

The governing Liberals face voters in a June 2018 election.

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

Our editors found this article on this site using Google and regenerated it for our readers.