The NDP released a fiscal update today leading up to the April 19 election. However, PC Finance Critic Cameron Friesen explains the document tabled was not a budget.

"As a matter of fact it is unprecedented in the Province of Manitoba for a government to not bring a budget," Friesen says, adding the document presented is non-binding, unlike an official budget.

"It's not credible, governments bring budgets, this finance minister and premier have declined to do that," Friesen says. "They were happy to go and do the public consultation because it meant they had a profile, but they are not happy to do the work of government to actually lead."

The update also showed the Provincial deficit has risen from a projection of $421 million to $646 million. Friesen notes the stakes are high, as Manitoba received it's first credit downgrade in nearly 30 years.

"It means the fiscal position has gotten even worse," Friesen says, adding further downgrades in credit ratings could mean more money spent on servicing debt, and "less money on front line services."

The NDP pre-election plan included the creation of a new tax bracket for incomes over $170,000.