The provincial budget will be tabled in the legislature Wednesday. While many have been curious to know what it contains, many are cautious as well, especially after Premier Brad Wall’s Facebook post earlier this week. In his post, Wall hinted at the province looking to increase consumption taxes, while reducing a reliance on resource revenues, which are volatile at times, and have been much lower than expected in recent years.

Golden West business commentator, Paul Martin, explained the resource question is always one of the challenge for any government when they develop the budget. While the expenses are generally easier to predict, the revenue part of the equation can be hard to nail down, especially with a reliance on resources.

“It’s quite unpredictable. We can’t, in Saskatchewan, determine what is the global oil price, or the global potash price,” Martin said.

The expenses can also be an issue, if they get carried away. According to Martin, the province has had to tap into the rainy day fund, and clean out the Crowns each year just to make sure the expenditures in the budget are covered. This results in the having to play catch up.

There is light at the end of the tunnel, though, Martin said.

“The economy is now starting to pick up,” Martin explained. “We are seeing some uptick in the economy, it just hasn’t reflected in the government’s books yet. That will probably be a year away.”

The budget will come out just after 2:00 p.m. Wednesday. We will have full coverage, on-air and online.