Alberta’s current budget yo-yos from surplus to deficit back to $465M surplus

EDMONTON — This year’s Alberta budget has yo-yoed from a projected surplus to a deficit and back to a surplus.

Finance Minister Robin Campbell has released third-quarter numbers that say the province is on track to record a $465-million surplus for the 2014-15 fiscal year.

That’s almost a $1-billion turnaround from last month, when Premier Jim Prentice announced there would be a $500-million deficit.

The government says the change is due to higher-than-expected investment income and more money coming from the federal government to pay for flood relief.

The surplus is still lower from the $1.1 billion that had been predicted when the budget was introduced last March.

Since then, Alberta’s treasury has been rocked by the plunge in oil prices from US$100 a barrel last summer to about US $50 a barrel now.

The update predicts the government will spend about $41 billion this year and rack up $12 billion in debt for capital projects.