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OTTAWA — When the federal government takes another stab at tabling a budget next month, the deficit situation will look a little better than the last time around.

Preliminary figures released Friday show the deficit for the past fiscal year was lower than projected when the budget was initial brought down March 22, but not passed due to the minority government’s defeat in the House of Common and subsequent election on May 2.

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The available numbers indicate a shortfall of $34.4 billion for the 12 months ended in March. While that’s expected to be higher after year-end adjustments are made — such as calculating tax returns and assessing current values of assets and liability — it is still expected to come in lower than the $40.5-billion deficit that was projected just two months ago.

The past year’s deficit would, as stated Friday, mark a decline from the $47-billion shortfall seen in the 2009-10 fiscal year.A spokeswoman from Finance Minister Jim Flaherty’s office would not comment on how the lower-than-expected deficit might affect the upcoming June 6 budget, other than to say those details will be largely the same as the previous plan with “minor tweaks and adjustments.”