Halfway through the 2000-01 fiscal year, the state budget has a $437 million cash balance over what was projected earlier in the year, the Division of the Budget reported.
"Sustained economic growth continues to produce a favorable fiscal outlook for the State," DOB said in its 2000-01 Mid-Year Financial Plan Update, posted on the agency's website October 30. "The Division of the Budget expects General Fund receipts for the fiscal year to achieve or exceed the levels projected in the July Update to the Financial Plan."
The mid-year update does not change the official estimates of revenue for the fiscal year that ends March 31, 2001. However, it states: "If receipts growth continues unabated, end-of-year receipts will exceed current estimates."
Receipts in the second half of the fiscal year may be depressed by a potential slowdown in national economic growth, higher energy prices, flat or falling stock prices, or "a growing uncertainty with respect to financial sector profits and bonus payments," the DOB report said.
The Budget Division said New York's economy "remains strong," but "there are signs the national economy is slowing." The nation's gross domestic product is expected to grow 5.2 percent, after inflation, during 2000 but at a lower rate, 3.8 percent, in 2001.
Total employment growth in New York is projected at 2.1 percent this year, diminishing to 1.7 percent in 2001, according to DOB.