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本帖最后由 爱城闲人 于 2014-12-9 20:36 编辑
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Premier Says Low Oil Prices Could Leave Hole in Provincial Budget2 V$ K: T- g' H' F2 Y+ [* t
Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil
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- W1 ]! o* n- z% G; [$ S$ CThe price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.4 J$ A% z5 P3 z3 ]: D
1 A+ ~% Q- {4 ]. iAnd Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.
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+ m1 W2 I- ` d2 \' Z- z& zPrentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
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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.”' V/ E# |6 u) d5 \ B+ q# t
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Now, with prices lower than $65 US/barrel, Prentice says low prices could leave a $6-$7 billion hole in Alberta’s $40 billion budget.
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. }5 V5 V: q2 @* J% R h3 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.
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3 ^7 R! J& ]4 t% j9 h“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.
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5 p9 p1 `5 @9 ~! I, c0 \5 r9 YTuesday’s comments come days after a Morgan Stanley report said crude oil prices could drop to $43 US/barrel in 2015 before rebounding.4 i: C6 I' d2 E' M; o
' a4 `5 N- A. a0 u% Y9 m; {3 oLast year’s provincial budget was based on a forecasted price of $95 US/barrel.
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, b$ ]' R$ |" SPrentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.# {% x: N8 @) t; k8 J) ~' H, ~
2 L" l& J; ` z! T! v3 a“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”! {0 |: @, J2 v @
# ~! j: k0 l0 Q% @# X; L9 |Prentice also says the government is not considering a provincial sales tax to cover possible shortfalls from low oil prices.' C6 N% `: p. b3 v& [( o% Q: m
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楼主: 辽宁好汉
狗仔卡
发表于 2014-12-9 15:59
显身卡
