Premier Brian Pallister is touting the Province's rainy day fund, but is planning for future borrowing in light of the COVID-19 advancement.

While Pallister explains the rainy day fund has grown from $100 million to $900 million since coming to power, and amounts to about three months of cushion. He says they would need to look at borrowing money by June to make up for the lost revenue and increased costs from the impact of COVID-19.

"Manitobans and Canadians are facing a historic pandemic that poses significant public health and economic challenges," Pallister says. "This is a time to unite, this is a chance for the federal government to help Manitoba and all other provinces obtain the investments needed to secure our public health-care services for all Canadians."

Pallister explains they hope to save Manitobans future borrowing costs by calling on the federal government to create an emergency credit agency to to borrow money on the provinces' behalf at lower rates. He notes the federal government can borrow at a much lower interest rate than the provinces, saving Canadians billions of dollars annually.

He says all provinces will face significant fiscal challenges in the coming months as revenues decrease and expenses increase. Most provinces spend nearly half their provincial budgets on health care, and every province needs the liquidity to keep paying their bills, he adds, while ensuring the sustainability of services today and well into the future.