Moody’s, Deloitte Cast Doubt on NDP Budget
WINNIPEG — Two financial giants are warning that the Manitoba NDP’s 2026 budget predictions are unrealistic.
Major credit rating agency Moody’s warned that budget predictions made by the NDP do not appear to line up with its own growth predictions, and financial services giant Deloitte slashed its economic forecast for Manitoba.
“Both of these reports show that the NDP finance minister’s predictions about Manitoba’s economy for 2026 are completely unrealistic,” said Midland MLA Lauren Stone, PC Critic for Finance. “These overly optimistic projections will lead to a deficit that will be much higher than the predicted $500-million shortfall. That deficit forecast is completely out of touch with reality.”
While Moody’s notes that the budget predicts slow but steady economic growth, it warns that fiscal improvement appears inconsistent with Manitoba’s sluggish economy. The agency also raised concerns about the NDP’s budget projections for Manitoba Hydro. The budget predicts that Hydro will generate a profit of $140 million in 2026. The publicly-owned utility lost over half a billion dollars last year. A credit rating downgrade could result in higher payments to service Manitoba’s debt.
While the NDP budget relies on overly-optimistic economic forecasts, Deloitte slashed its 2026 economic outlook for Manitoba. In January, Deloitte was predicting GDP growth in Manitoba to reach 1.4%, but now predicts real GDP growth at just 1.0%.
“The downgrade in Manitoba’s GDP represents a 33% drop in economic growth,” said La Vérendrye MLA Konrad Narth, PC Critic for Economic Development. “The NDP are choking Manitoba’s economy with job-killing red tape and their Manitoba Jobs Agreement, which favours unionized workers over non-unionized tradespeople. That leaves 88% of skilled trades on the sidelines of Manitoba’s economy.”
Deloitte predicts that Manitoba’s GDP growth will lag far behind that of Alberta’s at 1.7% and Saskatchewan’s at 1.9%.
“The mismanagement of Manitoba’s economy by Finance Minister Adrien Sala is appalling,” said Stone. “He’s never come close to hitting his deficit predictions and I’m expecting another billion-dollar deficit this year.”
“This is bad news for Manitoba families who are being buried under the weight of higher income taxes and education property taxes as the NDP try to tax their way out of this financial failure.”
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