Progressive Conservative finance critic Don Monahan called the Liberal government’s fiscal update a catastrophe.

In a statement released Monday morning, Monahan described what’s happening as “breathtaking.”

“In less than a year, Premier Susan Holt and (Finance) Minister René Legacy have managed to take the strong fiscal foundation left by the Progressive Conservatives – balanced budgets, falling net debt and controlled spending – and burn through it at a pace never seen in modern New Brunswick history,” Monahan said.

The statement followed Friday’s fiscal update from Legacy that projected a deficit of $834.7 million.

It’s the largest deficit in New Brunswick for 20 years.

Monahan said Holt has broken her own campaign promise from 2024, balanced budgets in every year of its mandate.

“New Brunswickers were promised honesty, stability and balanced books,” he said. “What they got instead is the largest deficit in 20 years, no plan back to balance, and a premier who has abandoned her signature commitment within months of taking office.”

Monahan said the province’s financial trajectory under the previous PC government was “strong, disciplined and rebuilding the province’s resilience.”

“We handed them (the Liberals) a government with fiscal credibility, shrinking debt and growing confidence from credit rating agencies and investors,” he said. “They are dismantling that legacy at alarming speed.”