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“I am pleased that we are where we are. I will be more comfortable and sleep better at night if that was even stronger.”

There were economic bright spots in the update, including higher well-head oil prices and strong employment growth. But provincial economic growth is now forecast at just 0.6 per cent for 2019-20, half of the 1.2 per cent projection at budget time.

Growth is expected to strengthen to 1.7 per cent in 2020.

“The outlook for our economy remains positive, with modest growth projected this year and strengthening in 2020,” Harpauer said.

Photo by BRANDON HARDER / Regina Leader-Post

“While challenges remain in some sectors, economic indicators including population, employment, wholesale trade and non-residential building construction are up.”

She said there are still no short-term plans for broad-based reversals to the PST expansion put into place in 2017-18.

“I don’t think we have the strength yet to do so,” she said.

Overall revenues were up $329 million from budget to $15.35 billion. More than half of that came from higher-than-expected federal transfers. Non-renewable resource revenue and net income from Crown corporations is also expected to be higher than budget.

Those increases are almost matched by a jump in expenses to $15.32 billion. The government ascribes 87 per cent of the upward trend to a non-cash increase in pension expense accounts, an adjustment the ministry already reported in its first-quarter update.

Harpauer said the province is pushing for changes to accounting rules so pension adjustments won’t cause so much volatility.