Rod Gantefoer, Saskatchewan's minister of finance, said on Friday he will still deliver a balanced budget despite a major drop in resource revenues. (CBC)

The Saskatchewan government on Friday put a brave face on a major reversal of economic fortune as provincial revenues, which had been generating hundreds of millions of dollars in surplus cash, tumbled sharply due to steep declines in the market for potash, a significant export commodity.

On Friday in Regina, Rod Gantefoer, the minister of finance, released the province's first quarter report, covering the first three months of the budget year, beginning April 1, 2009.

The numbers show that forecasted revenues for potash, a major component in the manufacturing of fertilizer, fell an astounding $1.3 billion from budget expectations.

The decline was offset by better-than-expected revenues from the oil industry, which improved by $409 million.

With other, smaller, changes taken into account the net effect for the province's budget year is a $558 million hit on revenues.

Despite that, Saskatchewan has enough money in reserve funds to make the claim that it will balance the 2009-2010 budget.

"At times the revenue into a family may change due to illness or layoffs or unforeseen circumstances," Rod Gantefoer, the finance minister, told reporters Friday as he likened provincial finances to those of a regular household. "And in light of that you may have to make adjustments on your spending. You may have to use your savings account. You may have to re-prioritize those things you want to do as a family."

The Opposition NDP blasted the government for presenting what it called a 'fantasyland budget' in the spring, labelling the March predictions as unrealistic.

In a release, Trent Wotherspoon, the NDP finance critic, said the first quarter numbers show that earlier warnings about the budget being reckless were proven out.