OTTAWA — The federal government posted a surplus of nearly $1.1 billion for June — half a billion less than in the same month last year when the surplus was $1.6 billion.
The surplus came as the federal government's revenue increased by $600 million to $24.3 billion for the month.
Excise taxes and duties were the source of most of the revenue growth.
Federal program spending increased by $1.6 billion from a year ago to $21.3 billion in June.
The universal child care benefit was responsible for most of the spending increase, which was partly offset by a $500-million decline in public debt charges, which fell to $1.9 billion.
For the April to June period, the government recorded a surplus of $5 billion compared with a surplus of $400 million in the same three-month period a year earlier.
The Finance Department said the results for the first three months of the fiscal year provide limited information with respect to the outlook for the year as a whole.
"That being said, the financial results through the April to June 2015 period are consistent with the fiscal projection for 2015–16 presented in the budget," the department said in a statement Friday.
The government forecast in April a surplus of $1.4 billion for its 2015-16 fiscal year, however the parliamentary budget office suggested in July that Ottawa was on track to run a deficit based on a downgraded economic projection by the Bank of Canada.
The budget office projected the government producing a $1-billion shortfall in 2015-16.
