A commission struck to advise on how the Alberta government should handle its oil revenues is recommending the provincial government devote more to the Heritage Savings Trust Fund.
The Alberta Financial Investment Planning and Advisory Commission said in its report that Alberta needs to boost the size of the fund to $100-billion by 2030, compared to just $15.8-billion now.
Bear in mind that Alberta can bank extra cash since it has already eliminated the provincial government's accumulated debt load. It also salted some of its revenues in the Heritage Fund.
Meanwhile, the current provincial administration has opted to spend all its oil revenue and specifically rejected the idea of an savings or investment fund or indeed of actually reducing the provincial government's debt burden.
The argument about devoting some oil revenue to savings and investments is compelling:
“To preserve today's prosperity and pass on the benefits to current and future generations of Albertans, we urge [the government] to make savings the new fiscal anchor for Alberta,” the commission said.
-srbp-