Federal deficit hits $57B nearing halfway of fiscal year
BNN Bloomberg
The federal government ran a deficit of more than $57 billion over the first five months of its fiscal year, about $114 billion less than the treasury pumped out during the same stretch one year earlier.
OTTAWA -- The federal government ran a deficit of more than $57 billion over the first five months of its fiscal year, about $114 billion less than the treasury pumped out during the same stretch one year earlier.
The Finance Department's regular fiscal monitor says the budgetary deficit between April and August was $57.2 billion, down from the $170.5 billion recorded over the same months in 2020 when COVID-19 first struck.
Friday's report says the deficit now reflects current economic challenges caused by COVID-19, including ongoing public health restrictions.
Program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, between April and August was $190 billion, a decline of about $64.1 billion, or 25.2 per cent drop, from the $254.1 billion in the same period one year earlier.
The fiscal monitor says the decline largely reflects lower amounts paid in emergency benefits to individuals and businesses.
Year-over-year, emergency benefits to workers declined by 66.4 per cent, or $23.3 billion, to almost $11.8 billion from $35 billion, while the wage subsidy declined to $14.5 billion from $37.4 billion The Finance Department says the decline of $22.9 billion, or 61 per cent, for the wage subsidy program reflects drops in the number of eligible workers and the average subsidy per employee.
