B.C. to dodge recession without deficit
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B.C. will duck the looming global recession without running a deficit, and taxpayers will have an extra $70 in their wallets thanks to an economic relief package introduced in the legislature today, according to provincial Finance Minister Colin Hansen.
Hansen made the comments as B.C.’s members of the legislature returned to Victoria for the brief fall sitting with one big issue on their minds: how to brace the provincial economy for the impact of the global financial crisis.
None of the leading economists the ministry has consulted are forecasting that B.C. will fall into recession, Hansen said, adding that compared with other places, B.C. is doing remarkably well.
Hansen acknowledged that government revenues are falling and the government’s original earlier predictions of a budget surplus of more than a billion dollars have been blown away, but he maintained the government would not post a deficit.
During the opening day of the new session on Thursday, the government also tabled the legislation for its $485-million 10-point plan to help B.C. fend off the world economic crisis.
Read more http://www.cbc.ca/canada/british-columbia/story/2008/11/20/bc-no-recession-deficit.html
Gas price could fall below 80 cents: analyst
An already tumbling gasoline price could drop below 80 cents a litre by Christmas, delivering one of the few bright spots in the current economic meltdown that has sent stock prices plunging.
The forecast comes from market analyst Victor Adair. “The reason I say that is because we are seeing continued decline in crude oil and wholesale gasoline prices as we trade the stuff,” he told CTV, Thursday.
It’s a scenario that few would have imagined even a few months ago when the cost to fill up an average tank cost US$35 more than it does now.
In some parts of B.C.’s Lower Mainland, gasoline was selling for as little as 87 cents a litre.
Read more http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20081120/BC_gas_price_economy_081120/20081120?hub=BritishColumbiaHome
