 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
本帖最后由 爱城闲人 于 2014-12-9 20:36 编辑 + _. x1 S G1 ]. |
" w& _! U9 j3 V3 ? J0 Q' j4 i1 r
Premier Says Low Oil Prices Could Leave Hole in Provincial Budget4 k; G- ~, B+ Q6 w6 s: D# o
Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil7 o7 [ F/ s2 Z, w8 J* }6 ?) F" a: ]
9 y# N! c) @4 E# v+ N; t: ]; W, PThe price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.! l, l) Q+ b4 u7 `3 t& Z [
- ]0 h& I2 }6 r; hAnd Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.
% I6 [. ] U+ a2 v7 g5 [$ M1 j4 J. o/ M8 H* X
Prentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
9 ?% O1 D+ b" S+ L- `' N2 M0 E- c) ]% Q
4 c4 d5 B" x0 DTwo weeks ago, the Premier said the government expected oil prices to end the year between $65 US/barrel and $75 US/barrel. At that time he said low prices would have “consequences for all Albertans.”& z% g: g# ?1 _0 D$ d
# ~, n% b' h8 b% t* `Now, with prices lower than $65 US/barrel, Prentice says low prices could leave a $6-$7 billion hole in Alberta’s $40 billion budget.
* k7 A6 A# ?5 C& F. Q$ @+ ^. H0 R. H- r- R/ E0 `
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.
' _. a' ~! j2 c
4 `4 v. _! F" N$ Y% A) 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.
$ c4 Q# A; V) ?7 O4 ~4 {2 i4 U
1 ]; s# X$ z* p8 V1 U& V! ITuesday’s comments come days after a Morgan Stanley report said crude oil prices could drop to $43 US/barrel in 2015 before rebounding.5 b0 O+ Q& d0 n9 Y9 O3 @
5 D+ c6 S' u" FLast year’s provincial budget was based on a forecasted price of $95 US/barrel.1 {* p2 K2 A. ?
/ r6 Q: I5 j- D8 \& o( mPrentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.
+ o& _8 c# F1 Z7 Z# W# w0 o( ~
5 x1 I" s& W# Q“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”
- @; C7 l/ `6 o+ M5 G6 j5 R( c, k
: I4 u# [9 r4 X. w5 cPrentice also says the government is not considering a provincial sales tax to cover possible shortfalls from low oil prices.+ C9 d' `2 Z& G# Y, S( I, p
|
|
楼主: 辽宁好汉
狗仔卡
发表于 2014-12-9 15:59
显身卡
