Official data released Friday shows the federal government's deficit shrank to $18.3 billion in the fiscal year that ended in March, more than $3 billion less than the deficit posted in the previous fiscal year.
The Department of Finance said Friday the government ran a deficit of $6.5 billion in March. One of the major factors in the drop was that the previous year's numbers were skewed higher because of a "one-time accrual of $2.2 billion in federal assistance to Quebec" when the province moved to a harmonized sales tax in March 2012.
For the fiscal year as a whole, tax revenues increased faster than expenses. The former increased by $3.9 billion or 1.6%. The latter went up by $2.7 billion or 1.1%.
Charges on the public debt came in more than $2 billion lower, a drop of 6.5%.
In a release, the federal government cautioned that the numbers released Friday are not final, and will be updated in the fall.
