The projected deficit for 2012-2013 is now $1.14 billion, an increase of $173 million from projections in the 2012 budget. Natural resource revenue is down by $1.4 billion over the three-year fiscal plan, compared to the Budget 2012 forecast, $1.1 billion of which is a result of declining natural gas prices and volumes. In order to manage the natural gas market impact on royalty revenues, the province will need to find $241 million in 2012-2013, $389 million in 2013-2014 and $483 million in 2014-2015. Minister de Jong stated that the government is committed to implementing measures to mitigate the impacts of declining natural gas revenues and deliver a balanced budget in 2013-2014. Budget 2012 included various measures to keep government spending at an overall annual increase of two per cent over the three-year fiscal plan. Although ministries are on track to meet their spending targets, further measures will be necessary to control spending. Immediate measures to address the revenue shortfall include:
- Further spending reductions within government operations;
- Freezing salaries for public sector management;
- Implementing a hiring freeze in the public service; and
- Reviewing the government bargaining mandate.
The BC government is investing $10.5 billion in infrastructure spending over the three-year fiscal plan. This represents a reduction in capital spending as a mechanism by which to keep overall debt in check. New projects range from improvements to public schools and post-secondary institutions, health-care facilities, housing projects and roadwork. At this point, the government forecasts that BC's real GDP will grow by 2 per cent in 2012, 1.8 per cent in 2013 and 2.4 per cent annually in the following years. | 
