Canada's financial surplus decimated

OTTAWA, June 16 (UPI) -- The financial surplus for all Canadian governments plummeted from $31.5 billion to $2.4 billion for the fiscal year ending March 31, Statistics Canada said.

Of that, the federal government's surplus fell from $12.8 billion to $883 million, the agency reported from Ottawa Tuesday.

"The financial position of provincial, territorial and local governments went from a combined surplus of $6.9 billion to a combined deficit of $9.7 billion," StatsCan said.

Federal income taxes fell 7.7 percent, largely attributable to a decrease in corporate income taxes, the report said.

For the federal and provincial governments, revenues declined 2.1 percent to $633.7 billion during the fiscal year ending March 2009 while expenditures grew 2.5 percent to $631.3 billion.

Local governments, such as municipalities and school boards, use a Dec. 31 fiscal year-end. They recorded a deficit of $1.1 billion for the year, with revenues up 5.2 percent to 121.8 billion and expenditures also up 5.2 percent to $122.9 billion, the agency said.