Quebec's finance minister will deliver the next budget on March 17, and he expects it to be balanced.

Carlos Leitao confirmed Thursday that he will present the 2016-17 provincial budget on St. Patrick's Day.

"We won't see a surplus, but we can see that we'll have a balanced budget," he said.

Leitao said two years of budget cutting has brought provincial revenue in line with spending.

"It is because the basis upon which we can build to do everything else is a balanced budget. If we are not able to control our public finances then we will not be able to maintain the proper funding for health, education, family, and everything else over the long term," said Leitao. 

"The first step and the most important step is a solid base and the solid base is a balanced budget." 

But both the PQ and the CAQ say Quebecers are paying a steep price to keep the province's books balanced. 

"It will be to the detriment of taxpayers, it's going to be to the detriment of the families of Quebec because we've been seeing for the last month, for the last year, taxes being raised," said PQ Leader Pierre Karl Peladeau.

CAQ Leader Francois Legault want to see taxes go down sooner rather than later.

"We have seen an increase on average of $1,500 per family so it's about time we decrease income taxes. Not in 2017 -  right now, starting on April 1, 2016," he said.

The federal government will deliver its budget on March 22, and it has already announced that it is likely to deliver a multibillion-dollar deficit.