Flaherty Hits the Mark on Projected Budget Surplus
Canadian Finance Minister Jim Flaherty has hit his target for the budget surplus very nicely. According to the Finance Department, the budget surplus for the fiscal year ended March 31 fell to C$11.7bln from C$12.9bln a year ago, slightly higher than Flaherty’s forecast. Once the C$1.5bln of spending initiatives announced this year are accounted for, the surplus goes down to C$10.2bln — as Flaherty had predicted in the February budget.
End-of-year adjustments have not yet been made, so final budget numbers won’t be available until later this year.
Meanwhile the government has managed to keep its commitment to reduce the debt by C$11.7bln, bringing it to C$455.6bln thus far this year. Government spending other than debt management fell 0.1% to C$19.4bln from last year.
February’s tax cuts haven’t yet slowed growth in personal income tax revenue — which gained 13% in March to C$10.3bln — and revenue from corporate income tax dropped 3.5% to C$4.45bln.