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本帖最后由 爱城闲人 于 2014-12-9 20:36 编辑 1 E. u! A* ]; f: X7 H5 \ |
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Premier Says Low Oil Prices Could Leave Hole in Provincial Budget
$ a! \6 b) I( b7 K! h; }Tuesday, December 09, 2014 - Economy, Infrastructure, Oil+ p5 I# q# w# |, k
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The price of oil hovered around $63 US/barrel Tuesday after one of its worst days in years Tuesday.4 J0 f" @, F H* L+ U' M
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And Premier Jim Prentice says low prices could leave a $7 billion hole in the province’s budget.6 b' v; s8 h) J
" S% N* f1 Y2 k/ \Prentice gave his “State of the Province” speech to the Edmonton Chamber of Commerce Tuesday.
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. e8 t7 Z% {1 n ^ y& d& G/ STwo 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.”# t8 n& e4 G( L% q# q. `2 ?
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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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“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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1 v& Z8 i8 K+ h/ y/ K, Z# ]0 uTuesday’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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6 k3 [* K0 D' d! K4 QLast year’s provincial budget was based on a forecasted price of $95 US/barrel.
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" \( ]& \+ W( |) @3 KPrentice says future budgets will rely on much more conservative price estimates.7 \3 I+ l( {1 q; u
& o$ S4 o: \# u/ ~9 u6 e“In the long-term, a budget that is tied to to volatile energy prices year-in, year-out represents a significant risk.”
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( k' }, s$ v) G( R, t' p: P- XPrentice 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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