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WINNIPEG — The Manitoba government will be able to run deficits without forcing cabinet ministers to take pay cuts, under a bill introduced today in the legislature.

The new bill replaces a balanced budget law that the Progressive Conservative government scrapped after winning the provincial election last year.

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The old law required cabinet ministers to take a 20 per cent pay cut any time the government was in deficit.

The new bill only requires the government to run a lower deficit than the previous year to avoid the penalty.

RELATED: Manitoba government set to release 2017 budget in April

It also changes the way the deficit is calculated for the purposes of the pay cut.

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Finance Minister Cameron Friesen had hinted at the change last year, citing a deficit of more than $800 million inherited from the NDP.

The bill reinstates a requirement under the old law to hold a referendum before any major tax increase, although it contains no penalty for governments that violate that provision.