Budget predicts bitument bonanza
Fuelling the economy, Alberta`s oilsands are the darling of a 2013 boom budget presented to the Legislature on Thursday.
What a difference five years make. In 2008-2009, resource-based revenues took a plunge from almost $12 billion to less than $7 billion. In the grips of recession, Alberta lost 28,000 jobs.
In the interim years, the province`s return to prosperity paralleled resource-based revenues` return to the $11-million mark, with a relatively solid economic footing lodged squarely in the Lower Athabasca Region`s bounty.
Almost 4% growth is predicted in the budget for 2012, almost double the expected rate for Canada and the U.S. In June 2011, the buzzing Alberta economy created more new jobs than the entire U.S. in the same period. Alberta fielded about half of Canada`s total new job rolls.
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