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本帖最后由 爱城闲人 于 2014-12-9 20:36 编辑 ; a0 H% {0 h2 ]; P3 q" _5 p9 L
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Premier Says Low Oil Prices Could Leave Hole in Provincial Budget# K& p9 ?6 L; [. O( f$ u5 J5 z& }
Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil- [3 `. R1 }: F5 f. i( o5 F5 E
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The price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.
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And Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.: b8 `) t, i& r" q* N
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Prentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.0 Q" H9 m# N6 E' W3 J% {
5 c3 K7 [9 s& T& h, K& ?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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Now, with prices lower than $65 US/barrel, Prentice says low prices could leave a $6-$7 billion hole in Alberta’s $40 billion budget.
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Prentice says the government will have to reduce spending if low prices are sustained. He says across-the-board cuts in spending won’t happen, instead Prentice says his government will focus on core services and limit spending below the rate of growth, plus inflation.
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& b' X) Q0 ^ c- T$ \6 L" C“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.# S# }* R4 {6 p& w9 R
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Tuesday’s comments come days after a Morgan Stanley report said crude oil prices could drop to $43 US/barrel in 2015 before rebounding.+ b5 P7 @ x$ L: v$ ^& }: M. z
% E/ ]3 l5 A v7 s! m" d) ELast year’s provincial budget was based on a forecasted price of $95 US/barrel.( n+ r* u, u* K- a0 C0 r
3 J/ Q0 z; v0 I! g2 SPrentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.
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5 W# N2 u7 \/ M“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”* |9 ?1 q/ O+ \
2 `- e* v& h, APrentice 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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