Rhode Island ended fiscal 2016 with a $167 million surplus, or $44 million more than expected, Gov. Gina Raimondo announced Sept. 1.
General revenue expenditures were $16.2 million less than budgeted in the preliminary closing statement and general revenues were $28.6 million more than estimated, according to Raimondo, who cited data from the Department of Administration's Office of Accounts and Control.
"Today's numbers are an important piece of [our] work," Raimondo said in a statement. "We still face a large projected deficit for FY2018." That deficit could be as high as $400 million.
Nearly three-fourths of the surplus, or $123 million, was part of the $8.9 billion fiscal 2017 budget that Raimondo signed in June. The capital fund balance is $152.7 million, state Comptroller Peter Keenan said in a letter to House and Finance committee chairmen Marvin Abney and Daniel Da Ponte, respectively.
Moody's Investors Service rates Rhode Island's general obligation bonds Aa2, while S&P Global Ratings and Fitch Ratings each assign AA.
