The federal budget deficit now stands at $17.3 billion, eight months into the fiscal year, the Finance Department reports.

Canada's balance of payments deficit in goods and services shrank in the last three months of 2011 on a seasonally adjusted basis, Statistics Canada reported Thursday.

The New Brunswick government cut the deficit in half to $183 million, using mostly a combination of program cuts, small revenue hikes and incremental reductions in the civil service.