The federal government has accumulated a budget deficit of $23.6 billion for the first nine months of its 2023-2024 fiscal year.
This result compares to a deficit of $5.5 billion which had accumulated during the same period in the 2022-2023 fiscal year.
Federal government revenues amounted to $318.1 billion for the period from April to December, up from $310.0 billion for the same period last year.
Ottawa attributes this increase to the increase in personal income tax revenues, other non-tax revenues and other taxes and duties. A drop in corporate income tax revenues, however, partially slowed this increase.
According to the government, program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, amounted to $301.0 billion, an increase of $18.6 billion compared to the same period of the previous fiscal year. There was an increase in all major spending categories.
The rise in interest rates caused public debt charges to rise from $25.8 billion to $35.1 billion from one year to the next for the same period.
Net actuarial losses totaled $5.7 billion, down from $7.4 billion a year earlier.
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