Minister Announces Release of 2011-12 Audited Financial Statements

The Honourable Tom Marshall, Minister of Finance and President of Treasury Board, today released the Public Accounts, the audited financial statements of the province, for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2012.

For the 2011-12 fiscal year, the province posted a surplus of $882.8 million which is significantly higher than the original budgeted surplus of $59.1 million but is more closely aligned with the revised surplus of $776.4 million that was projected at budget time in April 2012. The primary reason for the improved results was higher offshore oil royalties and increases in personal income and sales taxes.

The Public Accounts also note that the province has significantly reduced the provincial net debt by $2.4 billion since 2008. Net debt per capita has also declined substantially from $20,120 to $15,264 over that same period which means that Newfoundland and Labrador no longer has the highest net debt per capita in Canada.

“The fact that offshore oil royalties increased by almost $590 million over budget shows just how volatile our revenue streams can be,” said Minister Marshall. “In the past few years, oil prices have contributed positively to the province’s bottom line. However, in the current fiscal year, the continued slowdown of the global economy has resulted in a reduced demand for oil and minerals and the volatility has shifted in the opposite direction to produce a negative result for the province as was reported in the 2012 mid-year fiscal update. Accordingly, as we move forward we must ensure that our level of spending is sustainable and in line with the lower projected revenues.”

The Public Accounts are prepared in accordance with the standards established for governments by the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants. The Consolidated Summary, as well as the financial statements of the Consolidated Revenue Fund, were independently audited by the Auditor General, who confirmed the financial results reported for March 31, 2012.

The Public Accounts and related reports for 2011-12 are available online: www.gov.nl.ca/fin/public_accounts/index.html. 

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Media contact:
Luke Joyce
Director of Communications
Department of Finance
709-729-6830, 725-4165
lukejoyce@gov.nl.ca 

2013 01 16                             10:35 a.m.