FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 3, 2014
QUEEN’S PARK – Moody’s Investors Service has downgraded Ontario’s credit rating outlook to negative.
Moody’s outlook was stable, but the downgrade was due to the expectation of “the increase in planned deficits”. The credit rating change could affect the borrowing rate on the province’s $250 billion in debt securities.
“This is not a surprise,” said Haldimand-Norfolk MPP Toby Barrett. “Now that budget will be implemented, all Ontarians will pay the price as servicing the debt is already the province’s third largest expenditure.”
“This should be a clear warning to Premier Wynne – with a debt this large, Ontario will be in real trouble if we continue in this direction,” said Opposition Leader Jim Wilson. “So today, I’m calling on the Premier to show restraint, to reign in her overspending, and to protect the frontline services we depend on across the province.”
“The expected path to balance and stabilization of the debt burden, in our opinion, faces greater challenges than before,” said Michael Yake, Moody’s vice-president. “Failure to redress the fiscal challenges would add further pressures to a debt burden that was worsened in recent years.”
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For more information, contact MPP Toby Barrett at 519-428-0446