B.C. Finance Minister, shown here during an earlier appearance, says he plans to balance the province's budget by next year. (CBC)

Finance Minister Kevin Falcon says the Liberal government's fiscal plan to control spending and protect revenues will allow him to balance the budget by the 2013-2014 fiscal year.

Falcon points to breathing room created by some stabilization in the U.S. economy, but says the province must still be cautious to protect itself from an uncertain global economy, including the European debt crisis.

He made the comments on Monday morning as he issued updated projections by the B.C. Economic Forecast Council.

Falcon says the council expects the provincial economy to post 2.2 per cent growth this year, unchanged from earlier predictions, but the 2013 forecast has been trimmed one-tenth of a point to 2.5 per cent.

The council's forecast average for the 2014-16 period remains the same at 2.7 per cent.

Last year, then-finance minister Colin Hansen said the goverment was aiming to eliminate its $1.3 billion deficit by the 2013-2014 fiscal year.