Feds register surplus of $3.2 billion over first two months of fiscal year
OTTAWA — The federal government ran a surplus of $641 million in the second month of its fiscal year, helped along by a boost in tax revenues.
For the first two months of the fiscal year, the government had a surplus of $3.2 billion compared to a $68-million surplus in the same period last fiscal year.
The government’s February budget predicted a deficit of $18.1 billion for the current 2018-19 fiscal year, but the parliamentary budget office has forecasted a deficit of $22.1 billion.
The monthly fiscal monitor report from the Department of Finance says revenues were up $4.3 billion for the first two months combined. That’s an increase of 8.6 per cent, compared with April and May 2017, driven largely by growth in personal, corporate and sales tax revenue, and helped by a 5.1 per cent increase in employment insurance revenues.