Alberta budget looks brighter as oil and gas prices remain high

Alberta’s budget outlook for this year is turning a rosier shade of red, with jobs up, the deficit down and oil and gas prices humming along at unexpectedly high levels.

Finance Minister Travis Toews says the deficit is now expected to be $5.8 billion when the government closes the books on the 2021 fiscal year next March 31.

That is a third of the $18.2-billion deficit Toews predicted when he tabled the budget back in February.

Since then, Alberta’s resource-driven economy has sailed higher than expected with demand increasing as the global economy emerges from COVID-19 pandemic lockdown.

Total revenue from non-renewable resources is expected to be almost $11 billion, an $8-billion leap from what was predicted nine months ago in the budget.

The unemployment rate is forecast at almost nine per cent — down from about 11 per cent in 2021 — and it is expected to keep dropping to under six per cent by 2024.

(Canadian Press)