Newsrelease

January 13, 1998
Edmonton, Alberta

"We’re striking the right balance between debt repayment and growth management. Our fiscal strength this year allows us to make a substantial debt payment and address infrastructure needs identified last fall at the growth summit. We’re moving into a new stage in fiscal management."

Alberta targets $260 million for infrastructure needs

Provincial Treasurer Stockwell Day provided Albertans today with details of the one-time capital spending earmarked for infrastructure needs out of the 1997-98 surplus. This one-time spending follows the new debt repayment plan outlined by Premier Klein in his annual address to Albertans last week.

"With our economy moving steadily forward, it’s more important than ever to manage our debt and our growth. The strong economic year we had in 1997 is a real bonus. Combined with five years of good fiscal management, we now have the fiscal flexibility to use a portion of our "bonus" to tackle the pressures of a growing economy," said Day. "It’s clear that we ’ll make a substantial debt payment in March. By targeting some extra dollars wisely today, we can make sure our infrastructure can handle pressures brought about by a growing population."

The one-time spending on infrastructure is as follows:

• $100 million has been allocated to Education’s basic capital funding to relieve pressing capital needs in Alberta schools. These dollars will be used to deal with increases in student enrolment, new technology pressures and school building repairs.
• $20 million is designated to Advanced Education and Career Development (AECD) for a Knowledge Network initiative to support post-secondary institutions use of new technology to improve students’ access to learning resources.
• $40 million is dedicated to make sure medical equipment is Year 2000 compliant as announced by Halvar Jonson yesterday.
• $100 million is earmarked for Transportation to accelerate the multi-laning of the North-South corridor and maintain infrastructure in municipalities. These new dollars will flow through existing programs. Transportation Minister Walter Paszkowski will inform those municipalities where extra dollars are targeted to in March.

"We’re growing and we have to deal with that growth," Day said. "With the fiscal strength we’ve built over the last five years, we’ve gained the flexibility to deal with our current growth. At the same time, we’ll continue to protect the integrity of our long-range fiscal plan, and stay on course to a debt-free future for our children."

As the Premier stated in his annual address, the first $1 billion of any surplus will go directly to the debt, while the next $250 million can now be used to fund one-time capital expenditures in priority areas. Any surplus dollars beyond that figure will continue to go towards debt repayment.

For more information, please contact:

Trish Filevich
Director of Communications
Alberta Treasury
Telephone (780) 427-5364
e-mail address: webmaster@treas.gov.ab.ca

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