Article content

Just a decade after Ralph Klein proclaimed Alberta debt free, the province has racked up debt at a pace that could affect its triple-A credit rating, Moody’s Investors Service says in its July report.

The report says Alberta’s debt burden could double this year from around 30 per cent of revenues to 60 per cent if the province continues to invest heavily in infrastructure.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Alberta's debt tops $11.9B with annual servicing cost of $714M: report Back to video

Assistant vice-president analyst Kathrin Heitmann said Moody’s will be closely watching how much the new government borrows and the increase in its debt burden.

“We currently expect the debt could even double up to 60 per cent over the next few years if they go ahead with infrastructure spending, and revenues remain low,” she said. “Of course, that’s something we’ll evaluate … once the budget is released and implemented.”

The report — which compares the ability of Alberta and Alaska to cope with low oil prices — says an increase in Alberta’s debt to above 50 per cent to 60 per cent of revenue, combined with a long-term erosion of its liquidity assets, would put “negative pressure” on Alberta’s credit profile.