Ontario's fiscal watchdog says the province spent 5.5-billion dollars less than planned

The latest report from Ontario's fiscal watchdog shows the provincial government spent 5.5-billion dollars less than planned in the first three quarters of the fiscal year that ends March 31st.

The report from the Financial Accountability Office says most sectors spent less than planned from April-to-December, including health where spending was nearly 1.3-billion dollars less than forecast.

It says that as of the end of December, there were still 3.1-billion dollars in unallocated funds in the Contingency and Time-Limited COVID-19 funds.

But it says the province reported that had fallen to 1.6-billion by early last month and it expects the pace of spending to have picked up in the fourth quarter due to the impact of the Omicron wave of COVID-19.