Ottawa ran $1.7B surplus in July, government reports

The federal government reported a surplus of $1.7 billion in July, boosted by higher income and excise taxes and duties, the Department of Finance said in its monthly report, released Friday.

That big jump pushed the surplus for the first four months of the fiscal year to an estimated $2.9 billion. That's already more than Finance Minister Jim Flaherty projected in the February budget, when he called for a surplus of $2.3 billion for the full year ending March 31, 2009.

The surplus in the first four months reflected a $600-million increase in revenues, and a $4.9 billion, or eight per cent, rise in spending. Revenue from income, sales and excises taxes increased, but was largely offset by cuts in corporate taxes and the GST, the department said.

The surplus in July was up from the $1.1 billion in July 2007.

The surplus in the first four months was down from $6.7 billion in the comparable period of the 2007-08 fiscal year.

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