By The Canadian Press

B.C. posts $730 million surplus, housing revenues continue to fill coffers

Jul 21, 2016 | 1:53 PM

VICTORIA — Final public accounting for the year shows British Columbia with a surplus budget of more than double what was predicted in the last provincial budget.

Finance Minister Mike de Jong says the bottom line was boosted by an increase in property transfer tax revenues of $468 million, up almost 44 per cent.

The surplus for the fiscal year that ended March 31 comes in at $730 million, $446 million higher than forecast last February’s budget.

De Jong says B.C.’s economic growth was pegged at three per cent, compared with the Canadian growth average of less than one per cent.

He says B.C.’s scorching housing market continues to fill the province’s coffers and he expects to report even more revenue increases by September.

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The Canadian Press