(Ottawa) The federal government’s budget deficit reached nearly $ 69 billion in September, after the first half of its current fiscal year. This shortfall is nearly $ 130 billion lower than that posted by the Treasury for the same period last year.
In its most recent edition of its Financial Review, the Ministry of Finance reported that the cumulative budget deficit from April to September was 68.6 billion, down from 198.1 billion in the same half a year earlier. , which had been marked by the first months of the pandemic.
Friday’s report said the deficit reflects difficult economic conditions, including the impact of restrictions still in place and other temporary support to respond to the health crisis.
Program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, was $ 225 billion for the period April to September, which was about $ 83.9 billion, or 27.2%, down from spending. from 308.9 billion from the same period a year earlier.
The decline is mainly due to the drop in transfer payments paid to individuals, businesses and other administrations under the Economic Intervention Plan.
Year over year, emergency assistance payments to individuals fell 66.2%, or $ 26.4 billion, to almost $ 13.5 billion, from $ 13.5 billion. about 39.9 billion a year earlier. Wage subsidy payments fell 61% to $ 17.2 billion from $ 44.1 billion last year for the April to September period.
The finance ministry said the $ 26.9 billion decline in wage subsidy payments was explained by the decline in the number of eligible employees and the average subsidy per employee.
Government revenues for the first six months of the fiscal year reached over $ 175.8 billion, an increase of $ 47 billion, or 36.5 percent, from $ 128.8 billion in the same period l last year, mainly thanks to an increase in tax revenues.
Debt charges climbed nearly $ 11.7 billion, up $ 1.3 million, or 12.5%, from $ 10.4 billion from April to September 2020. The Ministry of Finance has attributed this increase to higher adjustments to the value of real return bonds based on consumer price index inflation.