Ontario successfully completed its annual borrowing program in 2012–13, despite continuing challenges in global financial markets. The Province borrowed $36.6 billion in 2012–13, taking advantage of the historically low interest rate environment and strong demand for Ontario bonds.
The Province's total borrowing requirement in 2013–14 has been reduced by $7.2 billion compared to the 2012 Budget forecast because of lower deficits. This reduction will impact both long-term and short-term borrowing. Long-term public borrowing in 2013–14 is now $5.7 billion lower than the forecast contained in the 2012 Budget, and short-term borrowing is forecast to be $1.5 billion lower.
Strong global investor demand for Canadian-dollar assets, the liquidity of Ontario benchmark bonds and continuing confidence in the Province allowed Ontario to borrow 72 per cent in the Canadian-dollar market in 2012–13. This is consistent with the target of at least 70 per cent set out in the 2012 Budget, down from 81 per cent in 2011–12.
In 2013–14, the Province plans to borrow at least 70 per cent in the Canadian-dollar market. This is in line with the historical average of issuing approximately three-quarters in that market, and continues to represent a decline in the reliance on foreign markets seen during the financial crisis. In 2009–10, at the peak of the crisis, only 49 per cent of the Province's issuance was in the Canadian-dollar market.
The weighted-average term to maturity of long-term Provincial debt issued has been extended significantly over the past three years. It was 12.4 years for 2012–13, 13.0 years for 2011–12, and 12.8 years for 2010–11. This average term is much longer than the 8.1 years for 2009–10. Extending the term to maturity allowed the Province to lock in low interest rates for a longer period, which reduces refinancing risks and helps offset the impact of expected higher interest rates on the Province's IOD costs.
Canadian-dollar borrowing was completed primarily through 29 syndicated issues, but also included floating rate notes, Ontario Savings Bonds and medium-term notes.
The U.S. dollar market remained an important source of funding for Ontario. About $10.2 billion, or 28 per cent, of borrowing was completed through global bonds and medium-term floating rate notes (MTNs) in U.S. dollars.
2012 Budget1 | Interim | In-Year Change | |
---|---|---|---|
Deficit | 14.8 | 9.8 | (5.0) |
Investment in Capital Assets | 10.5 | 9.6 | (0.9) |
Non-Cash Adjustments | (3.8) | (1.8) | 2.1 |
Net Loans/Investments | 1.1 | 0.9 | (0.2) |
Debt Maturities | 17.3 | 17.3 | – |
Debt Redemptions | 0.3 | 0.2 | (0.1) |
Total Funding Requirement | 40.2 | 36.0 | (4.2) |
Canada Pension Plan Borrowing | (0.8) | (0.8) | – |
Decrease/(Increase) in Short-Term Borrowing | (3.0) | (3.0) | – |
Increase/(Decrease) in Cash, Cash Equivalents and Temporary Investments | (0.3) | 3.8 | 4.1 |
Maturity of 2011–12 Debt Buyback | (1.2) | (1.2) | – |
2012–13 Debt Buyback | – | 1.7 | 1.7 |
Total Long-Term Public Borrowing | 34.9 | 36.6 | 1.6 |
1 Reflects the 2012 Budget Plan as outlined in the April 25, 2012 fiscal update. | |||
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. |
The Province's deficit for 2012–13 is now projected to be $9.8 billion — a $5.0 billion improvement compared with the 2012 Budget forecast.
Interest on debt (IOD) expense is projected to be $10,372 million for 2012–13, and $10,605 million for 2013–14, which is lower than forecast in the 2012 Budget by $247 million and $610 million respectively. These reductions primarily reflect the impact of lower-than-forecast interest rates together with lower deficits.
2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | |
---|---|---|---|
Deficit | 11.7 | 10.1 | 7.2 |
Investment in Capital Assets | 11.1 | 10.4 | 10.4 |
Non-Cash Adjustments | (3.9) | (3.1) | (3.0) |
Net Loans/Investments | 1.6 | 0.4 | 1.8 |
Debt Maturities | 23.7 | 21.7 | 20.3 |
Debt Redemptions | 0.3 | 0.3 | 0.3 |
Total Funding Requirement | 44.5 | 39.8 | 37.1 |
Decrease/(Increase) in Short-Term Borrowing | (1.5) | (1.5) | – |
Increase/(Decrease) in Cash, Cash Equivalents and Temporary Investments | (5.8) | (0.7) | – |
Maturity of Debt Buybacks | (3.7) | – | – |
Total Long-Term Public Borrowing | 33.4 | 37.6 | 37.1 |
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. |
The Province's total long-term public borrowing in 2013–14 is forecast to be $33.4 billion, $3.2 billion lower than the amount borrowed in 2012–13.
The Province has completed $1.6 billion of its 2013–14 long-term public borrowing requirement, by issuing two 30-year syndicated bonds in the domestic market in early April.
To meet the funding requirement, Ontario will continue to be flexible, monitoring Canadian-dollar and international markets, issuing bonds in different terms and currencies, and responding to investor preferences.
The government will seek approval from the legislature for borrowing authority to meet the Province's requirement. The Province uses derivatives to reduce risk by hedging foreign exchange and interest costs when borrowing in international markets. This hedging process will become more complex due to the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III regulations. Hedging may also become more expensive if proposals such as financial transaction taxes or mark-to-market derivatives taxes are legislated and implemented in Europe or the United States.
Initiatives that assist regulators in ensuring the future stability of capital markets are welcome. However, it must be recognized that these initiatives may increase the cost of hedging through substantially higher transaction costs and capital charges on the Province's counterparties. Derivatives trading liquidity would likely decline as well, making it more challenging to hedge the Province's large global bond issues.
Total debt, which represents all borrowing without offsetting financial assets, is projected to be $281.1 billion as at March 31, 2013, compared to $257.3 billion as at March 31, 2012, and a forecast of $278.5 billion in the 2012 Budget. The increase from the 2012 Budget forecast is mainly due to additional borrowing to pre-fund a portion of the 2013–14 borrowing requirement. When calculating total debt, the liability of this pre-funding is included, but, unlike in the calculation of net debt, the offsetting financial asset is not included.
Ontario's net debt is the difference between total liabilities and total financial assets. Ontario's net debt is projected to be $252.8 billion as at March 31, 2013 (March 31, 2012, $235.6 billion). This projection for March 31, 2013 is $7.0 billion below the forecast of $259.8 billion in the 2012 Budget, and includes the broader public sector's net debt of $13.0 billion (March 31, 2012, $14.3 billion).
After eliminating the deficit by 2017–18, overall spending increases will be restricted to one per cent below GDP growth until the Province's net debt-to-GDP ratio returns to the pre-recession level of 27 per cent.
Interim 2012–13 results for the Ontario Electricity Financial Corporation (OEFC) show a projected excess of revenue over expense of about $1.0 billion, reducing the Corporation's unfunded liability from $12.3 billion as at March 31, 2012 to $11.3 billion as at March 31, 2013. Projected 2013–14 OEFC results are an excess of revenue over expense of about $0.9 billion, which would reduce the unfunded liability to $10.4 billion as at March 31, 2014.
As published in the 2012 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, the Minister of Finance determined the residual stranded debt to be $4.5 billion as at March 31, 2012, consistent with the estimate provided in the 2012 Budget. Under Ontario Regulation 89/12, the determination of residual stranded debt as at March 31, 2013, will be made by the Minister of Finance after the OEFC submits to the Minister its annual report, including the audited financial statements, and by no later than March 31, 2014. Residual stranded debt estimates are subject to uncertainty in forecasting future dedicated revenues to OEFC, which depend on the financial performance of Ontario Power Generation Inc., Hydro One Inc. and municipal electrical utilities, as well as other factors such as electricity consumption and interest rates.
Total debt consists of bonds issued in the public capital markets, non-public debt, treasury bills and U.S. commercial paper.
Public debt, as at March 31, 2013, totals $267.5 billion, primarily consisting of bonds issued in the domestic and international public markets in 11 currencies. Ontario also has $13.6 billion outstanding in non-public debt issued in Canadian dollars. Non-public debt consists of debt instruments issued mainly to public-sector pension funds in Ontario and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board. This debt is not marketable and cannot be traded.
The Province's net debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 37.5 per cent at the end of fiscal 2012–13, compared to the 39.4 per cent forecast in the 2012 Budget. This ratio is expected to peak at 40.4 per cent in 2015–16, lower than the 41.3 per cent forecast in the 2012 Budget.
The effective interest rate (on a weighted-average basis) on total debt is estimated to be 4.1 per cent as at March 31, 2013 (March 31, 2012, 4.4 per cent). For comparison, as at March 31, 1991, the effective interest rate on total debt was 10.9 per cent.
For 2013–14, the impact of a one percentage point change in interest rates would be a change in IOD of approximately $408 million for the Province.
The Province limits itself to a maximum net interest rate resetting exposure of 35 per cent of debt issued for Provincial purposes and a maximum foreign exchange exposure of five per cent of debt issued for Provincial purposes. As at March 31, 2013, the interim values for net interest rate resetting exposure and foreign exchange exposure were 8.9 per cent and 0.8 per cent respectively. All exposures remained well below policy limits in 2012–13.
2008–09 | 2009–10 | 2010–11 | 2011–12 | Interim 2012–13 | Plan 2013–14 |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Debt1 | ||||||
Publicly Held Debt | ||||||
Bonds2 | 145,488 | 175,899 | 200,074 | 223,467 | 245,544 | 254,949 |
Treasury Bills | 9,044 | 13,914 | 14,925 | 11,925 | 13,024 | 14,564 |
U.S. Commercial Paper2 | 2,006 | 3,087 | 3,242 | 4,701 | 6,611 | 6,611 |
Infrastructure Ontario (IO)3 | 1,695 | 1,920 | 1,989 | 1,854 | 1,909 | 1,609 |
Other | 68 | 296 | 353 | 347 | 360 | 332 |
158,301 | 195,116 | 220,583 | 242,294 | 267,448 | 278,065 | |
Non-Public Debt | ||||||
Canada Pension Plan Investment Fund | 10,233 | 10,233 | 10,233 | 10,233 | 10,233 | 10,233 |
Ontario Teachers' Pension Fund | 3,001 | 1,765 | 1,205 | 625 | – | – |
Public Service Pension Fund | 1,991 | 1,713 | 1,403 | 1,048 | 656 | 226 |
Ontario Public Service Employees' Union Pension Fund (OPSEU) | 946 | 814 | 667 | 498 | 312 | 108 |
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation | 811 | 755 | 696 | 635 | 570 | 502 |
Other4 | 1,632 | 1,726 | 1,842 | 1,945 | 1,857 | 1,719 |
18,614 | 17,006 | 16,046 | 14,984 | 13,628 | 12,788 | |
Total Debt | 176,915 | 212,122 | 236,629 | 257,278 | 281,076 | 290,853 |
Cash and Temporary Investments | (11,878) | (17,102) | (22,416) | (21,180) | (25,166) | (19,284) |
Total Debt Net of Cash and Temporary Investments | 165,037 | 195,020 | 214,213 | 236,098 | 255,910 | 271,569 |
Other Net (Assets)/Liabilities5 | (8,948) | (15,598) | (13,261) | (14,862) | (16,143) | (11,584) |
Broader Public Sector (BPS) Net Debt |
13,496 | 14,167 | 13,559 | 14,346 | 13,023 | 12,825 |
Net Debt | 169,585 | 193,589 | 214,511 | 235,582 | 252,790 | 272,810 |
Non-Financial Assets6 | (56,347) | (62,632) | (69,938) | (77,172) | (84,598) | (92,875) |
Accumulated Deficit | 113,238 | 130,957 | 144,573 | 158,410 | 168,192 | 179,935 |
1 Includes debt issued by the Province and Government Organizations, including OEFC. | ||||||
2 All balances are expressed in Canadian dollars. The balances above reflect the effect of related derivative contracts. | ||||||
3 Infrastructure Ontario's (IO) interim 2012–13 debt is composed of Infrastructure Renewal Bonds of $1,250million (2011–12, $1,250 million)and short-term commercial paper of $659million (2011–12, $604 million). IO's debt is not guaranteed by the Province. | ||||||
4 Other non-public debt includes Ontario Immigrant Investor Corporation and indirect debt of school boards. | ||||||
5 Other Net (Assets)/Liabilities include accounts receivable, loans receivable, investments in government businessenterprises, other assets, accounts payable, accrued liabilities, deferred revenue and capital contributions, pensions and other employee future benefits, and other liabilities. | ||||||
6 Non-financial assets include the tangible capital assets of the Province and broader public sector. | ||||||
Source: Ontario Ministry of Finance. |
2014–15 | 2015–16 | |
---|---|---|
Total Debt | 308.1 | 323.8 |
Cash and Temporary Investments | (18.6) | (18.6) |
Total Debt Net of Cash and Temporary Investments | 289.5 | 305.2 |
Other Net (Assets)/Liabilities | (11.9) | (13.1) |
Broader Public Sector (BPS) Net Debt | 12.5 | 11.7 |
Net Debt | 290.1 | 303.9 |
Non-Financial Assets | (100.0) | (106.6) |
Accumulated Deficit | 190.1 | 197.3 |
Note: Numbers may not add due to rounding. |
Currency | |||||||
Canadian Dollar |
U.S. Dollar |
Japanese Yen |
Euro | Other Currencies1 | Interim 2012–13 Total |
2011–12 Total |
|
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiscal Year Payable | |||||||
Year 1 | 28,666 | 12,593 | 163 | 2,345 | 1,621 | 45,388 | 33,705 |
Year 2 | 11,797 | 9,022 | 54 | – | 752 | 21,625 | 24,993 |
Year 3 | 8,446 | 9,811 | 1,033 | – | 1,798 | 21,088 | 21,671 |
Year 4 | 11,213 | 7,107 | – | – | 496 | 18,816 | 16,723 |
Year 5 | 11,096 | 4,729 | – | 385 | – | 16,210 | 18,857 |
1–5 years | 71,218 | 43,262 | 1,250 | 2,730 | 4,667 | 123,127 | 115,949 |
6–10 years | 47,478 | 7,527 | 474 | 6,278 | 2,048 | 63,805 | 52,904 |
11–15 years | 18,794 | – | – | – | – | 18,794 | 16,963 |
16–20 years | 14,229 | – | – | – | – | 14,229 | 14,200 |
21–25 years | 21,920 | – | – | – | – | 21,920 | 17,091 |
26–50 years2 | 39,201 | – | – | – | – | 39,201 | 40,171 |
Total3 | 212,840 | 50,789 | 1,724 | 9,008 | 6,715 | 281,076 | 257,278 |
Debt Issued for Provincial Purposes | 188,731 | 48,835 | 1,724 | 8,829 | 5,621 | 253,740 | 230,314 |
OEFC Debt | 24,109 | 1,954 | – | 179 | 1,094 | 27,336 | 26,964 |
Total | 212,840 | 50,789 | 1,724 | 9,008 | 6,715 | 281,076 | 257,278 |
1 Other currencies include Australian dollar, New Zealand dollar, Norwegian kroner, U.K pound sterling, Swiss franc, Hong Kong dollar and South African rand. | |||||||
2 The longest term to maturity is to June 2, 2062. | |||||||
3 Total foreign currency denominated debt for interim 2012–13 is $68.2 billion (2011–12, $65.3 billion). Of that, $66.3 billion or 97.1 per cent (2011–12, $63.0 billion or 96.4 per cent) was fully hedged to Canadian dollars. |
Maturity in Fiscal Year |
2013–14 | 2014–15 | 2015–16 | 2016–17 | 2017–18 | 6–10 Years |
Over 10 Years |
Interim 2012–13 Total |
2011–12 Total |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Swaps: | |||||||||
Interest rate1 | 15,398 | 23,687 | 19,272 | 17,812 | 10,730 | 22,752 | 7,385 | 117,036 | 112,799 |
Cross currency | 11,702 | 9,650 | 8,649 | 8,349 | 3,676 | 19,848 | – | 61,874 | 65,780 |
Forward foreign exchange contracts | 19,303 | – | – | – | – | – | – | 19,303 | 11,877 |
Swaptions2 | 100 | 150 | – | 500 | – | – | – | 750 | 750 |
Total | 46,503 | 33,487 | 27,921 | 26,661 | 14,406 | 42,600 | 7,385 | 198,963 | 191,206 |
1 Includes $3.7 billion (2012, $3.2 billion) of interest rate swaps related to loans receivable held by consolidated entity. | |||||||||
2 An interest rate swap option contract. | |||||||||
Source: Ontario Financing Authority. |
The table above presents the maturity schedule of the Province's derivatives by type, interim as at March 31, 2013, based on the notional amounts of the contracts. Notional amounts represent the volume of outstanding derivative contracts and are not indicative of credit risk, market risk or actual cash flows. The Province uses derivatives to hedge and to minimize interest costs. Hedges are created primarily through swaps. Swaps allow the Province to offset existing obligations, converting them into obligations with more desirable characteristics.
As at March 31, 2013, the Province’s 2012–13 borrowing program totalled $36.6 billion, and consisted of $23.1 billion of syndicated bonds, $2.1 billion of domestic floating rate notes, $0.4 billion of domestic medium-term notes, $0.8 billion of Ontario Savings Bonds, $9.6 billion of U.S. dollar global bonds, and $0.6 billion of U.S. dollar medium-term notes.
As at March 31, 2012, as determined by the Minister of Finance, the residual stranded debt was $4.5 billion, a decrease of about $1.3 billion compared to residual stranded debt of $5.8 billion as at March 31, 2011. This is also a total estimated decrease of about $7.4 billion from an estimated peak of residual stranded debt of $11.9 billion as at March 31, 2004.
As at March 31, 2013, the Province’s total debt was $281.1 billion, and consisted of $181.9 billion of domestic bonds, $13.6 billion of non-public debt, $19.6 billion of treasury bills and U.S. commercial paper, and $66.0 billion of international bonds.
Net debt-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 37.5 per cent as at March 31, 2013, down from a forecast of 39.4 per cent in the 2012 Budget. The net debt-to-GDP is projected to peak at 40.4 per cent in 2015–16, down from 41.3 per cent in the 2012 Budget.
The accumulated deficit-to-GDP ratio is projected to be 25.0 per cent as at March 31, 2013, down from a forecast of 26.4 per cent in the 2012 Budget. The accumulated deficit-to-GDP peaks at 26.3 per cent in 2014–15, down from 27.6 per cent in the 2012 Budget.
As at March 31, 2013, interim figures show an effective interest rate (calculated as a weighted average) of 4.1 per cent on the Province’s total debt. This compares with 4.4 per cent in 2011–12 and 4.5 per cent in 2010–11. The effective interest rate has been steadily decreasing from 10.9 per cent in 1990–91.
The Province’s interim net interest rate resetting exposure, calculated as a percentage of the debt issued for Provincial purposes was 8.9 per cent on March 31, 2013. This compares to 8.3 per cent as at March 31, 2012, and 8.3 per cent as at March 31, 2011. The interest rate exposure limit is set at 35 per cent.
The Province’s interim foreign exchange exposure, calculated as a percentage of the debt issued for Provincial purposes, was 0.8 per cent as at March 31, 2013. This compares to 1.0 per cent as at March 31, 2012, and 1.0 per cent as at March 31, 2011. The foreign exchange exposure limit is set at 5 per cent.