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The federal government ran a budget deficit of $73.7 billion for the April to November period of the current fiscal year.

The Finance Department says the result compared with a deficit of $232 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Program spending, excluding net actuarial losses, between April and November totalled $289.5 billion, down from nearly $386.4 billion a year earlier.

Public debt charges for the eight-month period totalled nearly $16.5 billion, up from $13.5 billion in the same period a year earlier.

Net actuarial losses amounted to nearly $6.9 billion compared with nearly $10.3 billion a year ago.

Revenue for April to November totalled nearly $239.2 billion, up from $178.1 billion a year earlier.