(OTTAWA) The federal government on Friday posted a budget surplus of $3.62 billion for the first three months of its 2023-24 fiscal year, compared with a surplus of $10.20 billion for the same period a year earlier.
In its budget monitoring report, the Ministry of Finance indicates that receipts for the period totaled 110.58 billion, up from 107.88 billion a year earlier, largely reflecting the increase in income from the personal income tax, interest income and employment insurance premium revenue.
Program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, was $93.81 billion, compared to $87.03 billion for the same period a year earlier.
According to the government, the increase in outflow is due to higher direct program spending, revenue from the pollution pricing framework rebate and transfers to other levels of government.
Public debt charges were $10.69 billion, compared to $8.07 billion last year, due to higher interest on treasury bills and marketable bonds, partly offset by lower consumer price index adjustments on real return bonds.
Net actuarial losses amounted to 2.46 billion, compared to 2.58 billion the previous year.