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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 Budget
/ D1 _1 N6 G6 J' Y! ~Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil/ |4 N [$ l! l( X: I9 M8 c- T
r0 |7 B+ Q3 `$ e+ w; DThe price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.* e' {+ f2 ~7 e! b2 x
+ `2 G" u: a, r# s f, i b! Q+ T6 y1 MAnd Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.: p4 P( _4 ]* Q2 M8 Y3 m) i- o+ I3 F
$ u6 |% X* ?/ E0 A1 YPrentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
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{# u) }0 ^! iTwo 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.”0 }6 `- W/ z6 a6 h/ z3 {. z
; }5 @. y' W( M; H( Q. ]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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Prentice 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.0 Q( V* ]* G0 B* ^, ^
+ o7 ?& B p8 r) ^- _+ L/ Q0 o“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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4 U2 U) g6 k* ETuesday’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 $95 US/barrel.
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Prentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.
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“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”3 c' y; `% R3 E2 ?* A/ S$ ?5 B
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Prentice also says the government is not considering a provincial sales tax to cover possible shortfalls from low oil prices.
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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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