N.S. budget highlights

Here are the highlights of Friday's Nova Scotia budget:

Expenditures at $7.9 billion; surplus of $118.4 million — $44 million higher than forecast.
Net debt at $12.4 billion, $20 million lower than forecast for 2007-2008, which the province describes as a significant milestone.
No tax increase and no program cuts.
Province to opt in to the federal government's new equalization formula, which will generate $79 million in additional revenue this year. But the province will have to abandon its offshore energy accord with Ottawa for at least this fiscal year.
Most user fees and government charges to increase by 6.8 per cent, effective April 1, generating $9.3 million for the province.
Tobacco prices to increase one cent per cigarette or the equivalent of $2 per carton.
Aviation fuel taxes to increase from 0.9 cents per litre to 2.5 cent per litre.

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Top CBCNews.ca Headlines

Trenton colonel's charges spur cold case review: The 2001 slaying of a Nova Scotia woman at CFB Trenton in eastern Ontario is among the cases being re-examined after murder charges were laid against Col. Russell Williams.
Health costs push Alberta budget deficit to $4.75B: Alberta's Progressive Conservative government is projecting a record $4.75-billion budget deficit and planning cuts in many departments while increasing health-care spending.
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