User:Oceanflynn/sandbox/Alberta government debt

Alberta government debt is the net amount of money the Government of Alberta has borrowed from the general public, institutional investors and public-sector bodies. Alberta's net debt was CDN$27.5 billion by March 2019, which represents the end of the  2018-19 fiscal year (FY). The Debt-to-GDP ratio for 2017-2018 is xx.x% and interest on the debt is CDN$xx.xx billion, representing x.0% of Alberta's revenue and its x-largest spending area.

The McKinnon Report
The September 3, 2019 McKinnon Report, which was commissioned by Premier Jason Kenney shortly after his United Conservative Party (UCP) won the April 16, 2019 Alberta general election, in response to his campaign promise to eliminate the deficit and balance the budget by fiscal year 2022/3. The report by a panel chaired by former Saskatchewan finance minister Janice MacKinnon, said that in order to achieve that, there should be "no increases in government spending for four years and a reduction in operating costs by at least $600 million, as well as cuts in capital spending." The report sets out 26 recommendations which include "sweeping reviews of health care and education".

The report warned that Alberta's net financial assets had eroded from a net positive position of $31.7 billion in financial assets c. 2009 to a net debt of $27.5 billion by March 2019—the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year (FY).

The report recommends increased use of private or not-for-profit clinics to deliver some health services, as well as placing limits of the amount doctors can charge for certain services.

Credit ratings
On April 4, 2019 Fitch Ratings confirmed their AA credit rating for the province of Alberta's long-term investments, which include long-term foreign currency bonds default rating (IDR), long-term Canadian currency bonds (IDR), and senior unsecured bonds. Fitch's highest rating for long-term investments is AAA. Fitch's ratings for Alberta's short-term IDR is F1+, which is the highest quality rating. F1+ is assigned to borrowers to who have an "exceptionally strong capacity of obligor to meet its financial commitment"—it is highly unlikely that the debtor will default "within a 12-month period".

Debt breakdown
The Treasury and Risk Management (TRM) Division of Alberta's Treasury Board and Finance manage Alberta's borrowing programs which include Domestic Medium Term Note (DMTN), Domestic Promissory Note Program, Australian Medium Term Note Program, U.S. Commercial Paper Program, and the Global Medium Term Note (GMTN) Program (Rule 144A inside the U.S. and Regulation S).


 * Canadian Dollar Public Bonds: $xxx.xB (xx%)
 * Foreign Currency Bonds: $xx.xB (xx%)
 * Canadian Dollar Treasury Bills: $xx.xB (x%)
 * Canadian Dollar Non-Public Debt: $xx.xB (x%)
 * US Dollar Commercial Paper: $x.xB (x%)

The majority of the debt (xx.x%) was issued in Canadian currency.

Alberta's net debt was $27.5 billion by March 2019, which represents the end of the 2018-19 fiscal year (FY).

By November 2018, Alberta's government expenditures were $55 billion while the revenue was about $48 billion, according to a report by the University of Calgary's School of Public Policy (SPP) economist, Trevor Tombe. Capital investment amounted to $4.3 billion. The provincial government employs more than "210,000 full-time equivalent workers across hundreds of departments, boards and other entities." Tombes, cited a $8.3 billion deficit in his November report, prior to the release in February 2019 of the corrected deficit figures, which was "$1.9 billion less in 2018-19 than originally expected", —$6.9-billion deficit instead of the original $8.8-billion".

Alberta's current deficit is "unusual for the province", says Tombes. During the financial crisis, Alberta's "net asset position equivalent to 15 per cent of GDP"−it "owned more financial assets than it owed in debt."

In 2009 Alberta had $31.7 billion in financial assets.

History
The government of Alberta's debt...

Causes of debt
x and x account for more than xx% of Alberta's spending ($xx.xB and $xx.xB, respectively

Tax cuts ... reduced government revenues.

Risks and consequences
In 20xx, Moody's Investors Service downgraded Alberta's rating from Aa1 to Aa2, citing "growing debt burden" as a major concern.

The Provincial Solvency and Federal Obligations