Alberta budget shows $755M surplus

The final numbers are in for the last fiscal year in Alberta, and they show the province has turned the corner following the global economic meltdown of 2008. 

Alberta recorded a $755-million surplus in the 2013-14 fiscal year – the first such surplus in six years.

The province brought in more than $45 billion in revenue. 

That's 17 per cent more than expected, credited mainly to higher than forecast energy and tax revenues. When the budget was released in the spring of 2013, the government was anticipating a $2 billion deficit.

Speaking Monday, Alberta's Minister of Finance Doug Horner credited the results to higher than expected energy revenues and income from the Heritage Fund.

Total spending was almost $42 billion, and the province now has in $8.7 billion in debt for capital projects. 

The rainy day contingency account sits at $4.7 billion, but is forecast to soon increase to $6 billion.