It appears the deficit in Nova Scotia is much larger than originally expected. The provincial books show a deficit of $678.9 million for the fiscal year ending March 31. Finance Minister Diana Whalen says the large deficit is mainly due to declining revenues. Whalen says the state of the provinces finances shows the need to increase revenue and attract more people to work in the province. Revenues were $10 billion dollars, a decrease of $231.4 million because of reduced provincial income taxes, HST and petroleum royalties. Total expenses were $10.7 billion dollars, an increase of $463.9 million dollars, primarily due to a one-time public service pension valuation adjustment of $318.3 million. Net debt was $14.8 billion, $772.7 million above budget estimate. It’s the result of the deficit plus the net investment in capital assets. Net debt-to-GDP was 37.8 per cent.