Federal deficit narrows to $5.1 billion after four months
Program expenses, excluding net actuarial losses, reached $159 billion, up from $151.3 billion. The department cited higher direct program expenses and major transfers to persons.
Public debt charges, the interest the government pays on its borrowing, totalled $20 billion, up from $18.6 billion. Net actuarial losses were $1.7 billion, up from $1.3 billion. The department has described these as amounts tied to the revaluation of government pension and other employee benefit plans.
For April and May alone, the Finance Department reported a deficit of $1.4 billion on revenues of $87.8 billion.
What forecasters expect
Parliamentary Budget Officer Annette Ryan released her office’s economic and fiscal outlook June 4. The office expects this fiscal year’s deficit to edge down to $71.8 billion, about $6.5 billion higher than Ottawa’s spring projection, The Canadian Press reported.
The office expects annual deficits to average $4.6 billion more than Ottawa projects. It attributed that mainly to lower income tax revenue and higher program expenses, partly offset by lower public debt charges.
