OTTAWA — Ottawa ran a deficit of $4.5 billion in November, about $100 million more than the same month a year earlier.
The federal government said revenues increased about $2.6 billion or 15.4 per cent to $19.4 billion, driven by increased person and corporate income tax revenue, offset by lower GST revenue.
The government also recorded a $600-million gain on the sale of part of its stake in General Motors which launched its initial public offering in November.
Program spending was up $2.4 billion or 12.9 per cent to about $21.2 billion due to an incresae in transfer payments. Debt charges climbed $300 million to just over $2.6 billion for the month.
The deficit for the first eight months of the fiscal year totalled $26 billion compared with $36.3 billion a year earlier.
The government said $11 billion of the deficit for the current fiscal year was due to the economic stimulus plan including tax cuts, infrastructure spending and changes to the employment insurance program.