Other income taxes were also lower, reflecting the timing factors. Customs import duties were up strongly, due to misallocation in previous months, while other excise taxes and duties were lower. Non-tax revenues were up slightly. Monthly changes in this component are extremely volatile, reflecting the timing of receipts. Direct program spending was up 7.5 per cent, reflecting the impact of wage settlements as well as initiatives announced in recent budgets.
Negative numbers indicate a net requirement for funds.
The monthly financial results can be very volatile, reflecting the impact of the timing of receipts and payments and budget measures . In particular, monthly balances can be strongly impacted by the timing of personal income tax instalment payments and corporate income tax settlement payments. For example, quarterly personal income tax instalment payments have a strong impact in September and December while corporate income tax settlement payments affect December and February. In contrast, in the remaining months, based on previous years' experience, revenue flows are relatively weaker. As such, caution should be exercised in extrapolating results to date to derive estimates for the year as a whole.