VICTORIA — British Columbia’s final deficit for the fiscal year has come in at $7.3 billion, $564 million lower than the original projected number in Budget 2024.

The final deficit is also about $1.8 billion lower than the most recent third-quarter forecast.

Finance Minister Brenda Bailey says B.C. was able to report a lower-than-projected deficit largely due to revenue from the Insurance Corporation of British Columbia.

Total revenue was about $2.5 billion higher than expected in the budget.

B.C.’s GDP grew by 1.2 per cent, lower than the Canadian average of 1.6 per cent.

The taxpayer-supported debt-to-GDP figure reached 23.2 per cent, while the unemployment rate was 5.6 per cent.

The Canadian Press