The federal government says almost all of its economic stimulus money is now committed to projects.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper and his wife Laureen arrive in Beijing on Wednesday. (Elizabeth Dalziel/Associated Press)

Prime Minister Stephen Harper released the government's fourth quarterly report on its economic recovery plan to reporters shortly after arriving in China on Wednesday — scooping his own finance minister, Jim Flaherty, who is to release the update hours later in Winnipeg.

In the report, the government said that 97 per cent of the stimulus money has been earmarked, but that doesn't necessarily mean it is actually being spent.

When Harper released his third report card back in September, roughly 90 per cent of the government's stimulus funding was committed.

The government said that 12,000 different projects are set to be funded, but only 8,000 have actually begun.

The government called the stimulus plan a "$62-billion shot in the arm to the economy."

The government predicts that the spending will mean a budget deficit of $55.9 billion for fiscal 2009-10. The deficit is expected to be cut in half over two years, to $27.4 billion by 2011-12, as the economy regains strength and the stimulus spending winds down.

On Monday, Statistics Canada reported that the economy expanded 0.1 per cent in the third quarter, the first quarterly gain since the third quarter of 2008.

The 0.1 per cent figure reported by Statistics Canada is in quarterly terms. On an annualized basis, the economy grew at a 0.4 per cent pace in the July-September quarter.