Morningstar DBRS has confirmed the provincial government’s credit rating at A with a stable trend.
The credit-rating agency says while the province chose to delay its return to balance by a year, to maintain current affordability measures, the budget is “void of an material tax measures and pre-election handouts.”
The province is forecasting a deficit for 2025-26 of $372 million, higher than the $252 million estimated shortfall for the 2025 fiscal year. However Morningstar DBRS says that’s still a favourable outlook compared with most provinces.
(VOCM News)
Despite the challenging macroeconomic environment, the credit rating agency says NL is expected to be among the provincial growth leaders with areal GDP growth of 4.4 per cent in 2025 before moderating to 1.6 per cent in 2026.
Morningstar DBRS says it does not anticipate a credit rating upgrade in the near term, but will consider a downgrade if the province shows sustained deterioration in fiscal performance and debt.
