Federal spending has gotten so out of hand that Ottawa posted a $15 billion budget deficit between April and October of this year, with $7 billion of those funds being spent in October alone.
To put that into context, the budgetary deficit over the same period in 2022 was $0.2 billion from April to October, reported the finance department.
Spending for all government programs increased in 2023, up overall by 5.4%, when compared to the same time last year as well.
Excluding net actuarial losses, program spending rose to $11.8 billion.
However, government revenues went up by 1.2%, or $3 billion, due to higher interest revenues and other non-tax revenues.
Public debt charges increased as well, up by 38.1%, or $7.5 billion, as a result of sky-high interest rates, although they were partially offset, due to lower consumer price index adjustments on return bonds, according to Bloomberg News.
When compared to April to October 2022, net actuarial losses have gone down by 23.2%, or $1.3 billion.
The Liberal government’s budget deficit for 2023-24 is expected to reach a whopping $46.5 billion, according to the latest report from the Parliamentary Budget Officer (PBO).
This is $6.4 billion higher than the projection made by Ottawa when it presented this year’s budget in April.
The PBO attributes the increase to new spending measures announced by the federal government since then, which amount to $28.6 billion over six years. The measures include a $13 billion investment for a Volkswagen EV plant, $16 billion for a Stellantis EV battery plant and the GST rental rebate.
