In February 2021, the government forecast an $18.2-billion deficit for the year – but by the end of March 2022, the province’s revenue jumped by nearly $25 billion over what analysts had predicted, largely due to rising oil prices
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Record high resource revenues led to a balanced Alberta budget in 2021-22, the first since 2014-15.
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Alberta ended the fiscal year with a surplus of $3.9 billion, President of the Treasury Board and Finance Minister Jason Nixon said on Tuesday as he released the fourth quarter results of the last fiscal year.
In February 2021, the government forecast an $18.2-billion deficit for the year – but by the end of March 2022, while expenses were $2.5 billion higher than expected, the province’s revenue jumped by nearly $25 billion over what analysts had predicted, largely due to rising oil prices.
The total non-renewable resource revenue for the year was $16.1 billion – an increase of $13.3 billion over what was expected. Previously, the highest amount of resource revenue reported by the province was in the 2005-2006 fiscal year when that number hit $14.3 billion.
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Leading up to last year’s budget, West Texas Intermediate crude was trading between US$40 and $50 per barrel. The province based the budget on an average WTI price of $46 per barrel. Instead, the average price in 2021-22 was $77 per barrel. The price climb, particularly in early February 2022 when Russia invaded Ukraine, and by April 1, 2022 the price of oil was $101.78 per barrel.
Money from taxes jumped by $4.4 billion more than was expected in the original budget and changes to the contract and ownership structure of the Sturgeon Refinery added $2 billion.
On the expense side of the ledger, increased costs were due almost entirely to an extra $2.3 billion in disaster assistance, mainly for agriculture in the form of crop insurance indemnities and livestock feed assistance following the severe drought in 2021.
Total taxpayer-supported debt at the end of 2021-22 was $93.1 billion. The province paid down the provincial debt by $1.3 billion and taxpayer-supported debt servicing costs were $2.28 billion, down $45 million from the third quarter forecast.
The market value of the Heritage Fund sat at $20 billion.
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