Continued low oil prices have not been kind to Alberta and the government has pushed back the date it intends to balance the budget, said Alberta finance minister Joe Ceci.
“Like Albertans, the government’s treasury is facing significant pressures and our government has faced difficult choices these past months,” said Ceci, in a pre-budget news conference.
“We are aiming to be back in black in 2019-2020, a year later than we outlined in our platform this past spring.”
The provincial budget, the first for the NDP government, will be delivered on Tuesday as the fall session of the legislature gets underway.
Ceci points to low oil prices as the reason for the balanced budget delay.
Other campaign promises will be honoured in the budget. He expects this year’s deficit to be about $6.5 billion.
Ceci said the upcoming budget will focus on stabilizing the public service, education and health care and diversifying government revenue streams.
“Albertans should brace for no big surprises in this upcoming budget,” said Ceci.
“The kind of surprises coming will not be substantive.
