Nova Scotia's NDP government passed its second budget Monday, one that will push the province's harmonized sales tax to 15 per cent — the highest in the country.

Although the Liberals and Progressive Conservatives joined forces to vote against the budget, with only 18 seats out of 52 in the legislature, they simply didn't have the votes to defeat it.

Consumers will see the HST climb from 13 per cent to 15 per cent starting in July, and retired civil servants can expect a cap on cost of living adjustments.

The $9-billion budget, tabled April 6, is also projecting a $222-million deficit for 2010-11.

Premier Darrell Dexter was forced to defend a budget that contains little good news.

"Nobody likes raising taxes," he said. "Nobody likes cuts. You know, our challenge is a very simple one in many respects: … we currently spend more money than we take in in revenue."

A year ago, Dexter said he wouldn't have to raise taxes in order to keep the books balanced.

"This is a necessary part of getting the province back to financial health," Dexter said Monday. "It is part of the three things we need to do. This is the raising revenue, but we are also engaged in an extensive expenditure-management initiative, and we're also working very hard to grow the economy."

Tory Leader Karen Casey said the increase in the sales tax won't raise as much revenue as New Democrats hope because shoppers will head out of province for the savings.

"They will take their dollars somewhere else," she said. "That will hurt the economy of the province, and that will hurt every program that we have for Nova Scotians because those are all funded by our revenue."

Liberal Leader Stephen McNeil said his party voted against the budget because it is not balanced and should have contained more spending cuts.

"They've added three quarters of a billion dollars to the debt of the province of Nova Scotia. Where are the tough decisions?" he said.

The New Democratic Party's historic win last June is proving to be a costly one, McNeil said.

"This is the most expensive experiment Nova Scotians have ever been involved with, and this is three quarters of a billion dollars that this New Democratic Party has added to the debt of the province in less than 10 months," he said. "And the middle class and small businesses are going to pay the price."

Dexter said there are plenty of tough decisions still to come before the province is out of the red, which, the budget projects, should be about three years from now.