B.C. finance minister forecasts modest economic growth for the province

VANCOUVER – British Columbia’s finance minister has advice from some of the smartest business minds in Canada and says he’s optimistic the province will see modest economic growth next year.

Mike de Jong spent much of today with members of the B.C. Economic Forecast Council, an organization that includes 14 of Canada’s most respected, independent forecasters.

Council members provide the minister with economic advice as he plans the province’s budget and fiscal plan.

The council told de Jong that it expects the provincial GDP growth to be about 2.1 per cent for 2012, and slightly higher in 2013, to outperform the average for the Canadian economy.

De Jong says he expects his deficit forecast to remain the about same, or about $1.1 billion, a figure he boosted earlier this year because of declining natural-gas revenues.

To meet the deficit and balance the budget, de Jong says they’ll continue to focus on hiring freezes, wage freezes for excluded staff, modest negotiating mandates for unionized workers and constraints on all non-essential spending.