Premier Rachel Notley promises to lay out budget balancing plan in 2018
EDMONTON — Premier Rachel Notley says 2018 will focus on Alberta’s fragile but rebounding economy, specifically a road map to get back to budget balance in five years.
“Presenting a responsible, credible path to balance for 2023 — we’re working very rigorously on it and it will be responsible,” Notley said in a year-end interview.
“We will not be making up numbers. We will not be pretending things. We’re going to be very, very up front and careful about how we do that, but I’m confident that we can.”
Notley’s government, entering the final full calendar year of its current mandate, has been both praised and pummelled for increasing capital spending and borrowing to pay for day-to-day operations as the best solution to navigate Alberta through a prolonged slump in oil prices.