(OTTAWA) The federal government ran up a $5.5 billion deficit in the first nine months of its 2022-23 fiscal year.
In its financial review, the Ministry of Finance said Friday that this result compared to a deficit of 70.1 billion for the same period in the previous year.
Government revenue totaled $310.0 billion from April to December, up from $278.3 billion in the same period a year earlier. Ottawa attributed the rise to economic growth and the diminishing fiscal and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, program spending excluding net actuarial losses reached $282.4 billion for the nine-month period, down from $322.0 billion, mainly due to the end of temporary measures relating to COVID-19.
Public debt charges totaled $25.8 billion for the period, up from $18.7 billion a year earlier, due to rising interest rates and inflation.
Net actuarial losses amounted to 7.4 billion, down from 7.7 billion in the first nine months of the previous year.