Finance Minister Greg Byrne said there were few surprises in Thursday's federal budget that have caused him any concern.

The finance minister said he's glad to see the federal government holding the line on taxes. As well, Byrne said he's pleased that there was no indication that equalization payments to the provinces will be cut in the federal budget.

But Byrne said there are other areas the province will keep an eye on, including added funding for Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd., which is running far behind schedule, and far over budget in the $1.4-billion refurbishment of the Point Lepreau Nuclear Generating Station.

"Obviously, there's additional funding for AECL, but our concern is not only that AECL is funded sufficiently to complete the refurbishment of the Point Lepreau generating station, but that the federal government comes to the table to assist us with some of the costs associated with the overruns," Byrne said.

The New Brunswick finance minister said he expects to have follow-up conversations with federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty to get details on how much money will be available to help with the nuclear refurbishment project.

Flaherty's budget now projects the 2009-10 budget deficit to hit $53.8 billion and by 2014-15 the federal government estimates it will be $1.8 billion. In last year's budget, the federal government announced $37 billion in economic stimulus funding.

Flaherty's latest budget outlines the specifics of an additional $19 billion stimulus, which will be beefed up with $6 billion from provinces, territories and municipalities.

Inside that $19 billion, Flaherty announced that the federal government will roll out $3.2 billion worth of personal tax relief. In particular, Ottawa is increasing the basic personal amount of tax-free income to $10,382 and reducing the lowest tax bracket to 15 per cent.

The government will spend an additional $4 billion on extending Employment Insurance benefits.

An additional $7.7 billion was set aside for infrastructure projects.

$2.2 billion will be spent to assist industries and communities particularly hurt by the recession.