Ottawa Posts 9.3B Surplus

The $9.3-billion windfall for the first half of 2007-08 is a 57% improvement from the same year-ago period. Revenue climbed 7.7%, to $118.7-billion, based on robust across-the-board gains in tax revenue. Gains from corporate income tax rose 21.1%, and 4.6% for personal income tax revenue. Program spending, meanwhile, climbed 6% to $92.5-billion, for the six-month period. Charges related to servicing the debt -- the largest single expense item for Ottawa -- were down $200-million. The healthy financial shape allowed the Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty, to accelerate the timing of the second cut to the GST, from 6% to 5%. It will take effect Jan. 1, at least three years ahead of schedule. For September, Ottawa took in $700-million more than it spent, an improvement over the $1.3-billion deficit it recorded in the previous fiscal year. Revenue in the month climbed 15%, which the Department of Finance attributed, in part, to an additional day this year for processing payroll deductions. Expenses rose for the month by 5.2%. http://www.canada.com/nationalpost/financialpost/story.html?id=180fbf19-62c0-4e1e-9bf3-8fc7798884d7

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