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本帖最后由 爱城闲人 于 2014-12-9 20:36 编辑 & E0 H& e# q; r$ W7 E0 _( J
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Premier Says Low Oil Prices Could Leave Hole in Provincial Budget/ c' R- o0 R9 Q0 ]) I& M
Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil
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The price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.3 T! l0 z3 U+ s% E* D+ C; V1 z$ Z
* H; I+ ]5 c( ]$ I: _And Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.& @! a9 m; d0 z3 p, f3 T
( t/ x' ]# R m( `% rPrentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.: m/ p2 g. }. ~1 }+ F) {" j! h
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Two weeks ago, the Premier said the government expected oil prices to end the year between $65 US/barrel and $75 US/barrel. At that time he said low prices would have “consequences for all Albertans.”
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, X" m; q/ r' l8 ANow, with prices lower than $65 US/barrel, Prentice says low prices could leave a $6-$7 billion hole in Alberta’s $40 billion budget.6 r/ R9 g7 ~( K7 @# L
: P4 O. ~# l* h5 b# b; ^3 y+ A4 WPrentice says the government will have to reduce spending if low prices are sustained. He says across-the-board cuts in spending won’t happen, instead Prentice says his government will focus on core services and limit spending below the rate of growth, plus inflation.1 x' e- O) r- f4 i
* a+ r G1 I# c# Z0 K“It is incumbent on us to adjust our expectations and adjust our spending to begin to mitigate these risks for the long-term. And the solution cannot be to simply wait for the next upswing in prices,” he says. t; Q* o3 r0 l9 R" W+ v7 m% G% ]1 V
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Tuesday’s comments come days after a Morgan Stanley report said crude oil prices could drop to $43 US/barrel in 2015 before rebounding.
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Last year’s provincial budget was based on a forecasted price of $95 US/barrel.
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& P2 Q! O8 j: ?( ?% M6 yPrentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.
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' c7 b9 ?2 u( b# b2 O& \! b“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”3 n( p4 }4 z8 B& I5 f
: B$ e# m8 O. Q! c8 wPrentice also says the government is not considering a provincial sales tax to cover possible shortfalls from low oil prices.* o1 M5 u3 f1 r- S: P' p8 _
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楼主: 辽宁好汉
狗仔卡
发表于 2014-12-9 15:59
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