Government predicted a cash deficit of $286 million for fiscal year 2003-2004, with an accrual deficit of $666 million.

"Our sources have confirmed that our budget predictions remain on target," said Mr. Grimes. "Our budget figures show the province spending $286 million more this year than will be collected as revenue. It has been confirmed that the our spending and revenue collection remains on target. Our government made a decision to incur this deficit to provide the vital services used by the people of Newfoundland and Labrador on a daily basis. It appears that the Conservative government is not interested in providing the same level of services.

"It is worrisome that government has still not released the external audit. Are they playing with the real numbers in an effort to present a fiscal situation that is worse than reality? I believe the Conservative government is now realizing they will not be able to justify their cutbacks without drastically increasing the projected deficit. If government had nothing to hide, they should have released the external audit when it was received. This obviously demonstrates that the numbers presented were not the numbers they wanted.

"Has government held this audit report for the last few weeks in an effort to avoid media scrutiny and hope their message would get absorbed by the holiday season? The validity of this audit has now lost all credibility. I call upon government to ask the Auditor General, on behalf of the people of this province, to conduct a thorough and truly independent audit of government’s books. This is the only way that Newfoundlanders and Labradorians will gain a true and realistic picture of the province’s finances without political interference."