Credit Ratings Archives - Page 4 of 4

22Mar

By Bob AscahNo Comments

Budget, Credit Ratings, Government Finances, Opinion/Research, Opinion/Research

Budget 2020-Credit Perspective

[Updated 23 August 2020. Note: This report was in development before the DBRS Morningstar report of Thursday 19 March. The report is only available to purchasers of the service. Normally, the Province of Alberta posts on its Investor Relations page the reports. To date, this has not taken place. Nor has there been an official reaction to the downgrade to AA- from AA and the outlook to negative.] One of the key audiences of any government budget, but especially a budget under increasing duress and scrutiny, are credit rating agencies such as Moody’s, Standard & Poor’s and DBRS Morningstar. Credit evaluation is as much an art as a science, requiring an understanding of financial principles, economics and political science. Agencies provide opinions on probabilities of default of b...

6Dec

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Credit Ratings

DBRS downgrades Alberta’s credit

Originally posted 6 December 2017 On 29 November, DBRS issued a press release affirming its decision to downgrade the province's rating to AA from AA (high). In its opinion the downgrade was "necessitated" by "large operating deficits and rapid debt accumulation." (more…)

DBRS weighs in: Two Views Analysis and Opinion

16Jul

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Credit Ratings

DBRS weighs in: Two Views Analysis and Opinion

DBRS View Originally posted 16 July 2017 On 7 July, DBRS confirmed the credit rating at AA(high) with a long-term ratings trend as negative for the Province of Alberta. DBRS Report This assessment came after analyzing the provincial budget and meeting with government officials. (more…)

27Jun

By albertarecessionwatchNo Comments

Credit Ratings

Alberta's credit rating has been under pressure since before the NDP were elected in May 2015. While rating actions did not occur until later in 2015, provincial finances had been deteriorating since the financial crisis in 2007-08. Although oil prices recovered after the financial crisis, rising capital and operating expenditures, combined with a huge drop in royalty revenue, have considerably weakened the province's financial flexibility. In the most recent report, Moodys downgraded the province from Aaa to Aa1 because of " the province's growing and unconstrained debt burden, extended timeframe back to balance, weakened liquidity, and risks surrounding the success of the province's medium-term fiscal plan given the outlook for subdued growth." The report came just four days after the ...