The answer is as follows: The changes to the Unemployment Insurance Program announced in the February 24, 1994 budget will reduce benefit expenditures by $500 million in 1994, $2.1 billion in 1995 and $2.4 billion in 1996. These are calendar years. The planned annual surplus for 1994 in the Unemployment Insurance Account is $240 million, which should bring the accumulated deficit down to $5.6 billion, by December 31, 1994.
Premiums rates will be rolled back to their 1993 level in 1995 and 1996, and the accumulated deficit in the UI Account should be eliminated by the end of 1996.