Money by Dave Barger
Dwight Duncan, Ontario’s finance minister, delivered a speech reassuring the public that when it comes to debt, Ontario is not the next Greece or Spain, and the province’s economy will not go through a financial crisis like those some European states suffered from recently. According to Duncan, Ontario has a healthy economy and is trusted by the international community and investors. Its governmental debt is not unreasonable given its position position, being slightly higher than Canadian debt, but still lower than in states such as Germany, the U.K., and the U.S.
Getting over the hurdle
He added that the government’s current plan is to pay down all of what it owes in a six year time period and he expressed his strong belief that credit agencies will not downgrade their ratings on the province. “They’ve been aware of those numbers for some time because we forecast them out in each budget, so I believe that yes, things will continue to work well,” he remarked in his speech on Tuesday.
The repayment of the debt should not be accompanied by any drastic measures introduced by the local government, as Duncan stressed the importance of preserving and enhancing excellence in the province’s education and health care sectors. He further outlined the expected negative consequences of spiked interest rates: that, with each half a percentage point increase, an extra half a billion dollars is added to overall debt.
However, Duncan attracted some criticism, too. New democrat Peter Tabuns said that Duncan cannot be serious about his debt reduction efforts, and accused him of providing aid to big business as well as not being able to create enough jobs through his policies.
