The US government is running a deficit that is 23.6 per cent lower than in the same period a year ago through the first five months of this budget year, another sign of improvement in the nation’s finances.
In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said on Thursday that the deficit for February totalled $193.5 billion, the largest monthly imbalance in a year. The government traditionally runs large deficits in February, a month when it is sending out tax refund payments.
For the period from October through February, the deficit totals $377.4 billion, down from $493.95 billion a year ago.
Last week, President Barack Obama sent Congress a new budget which projects the deficit will fall to $649 billion this year, down from a $680 billion deficit last year.
The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting an even lower deficit this year of $514 billion. Both the administration and the CBO expect the deficit to improve as an improving economy boosts tax revenues and lowers spending on such government support programs as unemployment benefits.
The deficit is also being trimmed by tighter spending restraints imposed in response to four straight years in which the deficit soared above $1 trillion annually.
Through the first five months of this budget year, which begins on October 1, government receipts totaled $1.1 trillion, 9.3 per cent higher than the same period a year ago. Outlays totalled $1.48 trillion, 1.5 per cent lower than a year ago.
The CBO is forecasting that the deficit will fall further to $478 billion in 2015. But it sees deficits rising after that, climbing above $1 trillion again in 2022 and 2023. The deficits will be pushed higher by rising spending on the government’s big benefit programs including Social Security and Medicare, as baby boomers — Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — retire.
Republicans attacked Obama for failing in his new budget to put forth significant changes to deal with the soaring entitlement costs. Obama did offer a major proposal last year, reducing the cost-of-living increases paid to Social Security recipients, but he made that offer on condition that Republicans agree to increase taxes on the wealthy.
In his new budget, Obama did not include a proposal to trim cost-of-living increases, saying he would not offer that again until Republicans showed flexibility on higher taxes for the wealthy.
Obama’s budget, which proposes spending $3.9 trillion in the budget year that begins on October 1, included many spending and tax proposals he has put forward before. It was met with heavy Republican criticism for spending too much and failing to do enough to tackle the country’s long-term deficit problems.
However, the expectation is that the budget wars of the past three years may subside this year following an agreement reached last December on the broad outlines for spending for the next two years.
In its monthly budget report, the Treasury Department said on Thursday that the deficit for February totalled $193.5 billion, the largest monthly imbalance in a year. The government traditionally runs large deficits in February, a month when it is sending out tax refund payments.
For the period from October through February, the deficit totals $377.4 billion, down from $493.95 billion a year ago.
Last week, President Barack Obama sent Congress a new budget which projects the deficit will fall to $649 billion this year, down from a $680 billion deficit last year.
The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting an even lower deficit this year of $514 billion. Both the administration and the CBO expect the deficit to improve as an improving economy boosts tax revenues and lowers spending on such government support programs as unemployment benefits.
The deficit is also being trimmed by tighter spending restraints imposed in response to four straight years in which the deficit soared above $1 trillion annually.
Through the first five months of this budget year, which begins on October 1, government receipts totaled $1.1 trillion, 9.3 per cent higher than the same period a year ago. Outlays totalled $1.48 trillion, 1.5 per cent lower than a year ago.
The CBO is forecasting that the deficit will fall further to $478 billion in 2015. But it sees deficits rising after that, climbing above $1 trillion again in 2022 and 2023. The deficits will be pushed higher by rising spending on the government’s big benefit programs including Social Security and Medicare, as baby boomers — Americans born between 1946 and 1964 — retire.
Republicans attacked Obama for failing in his new budget to put forth significant changes to deal with the soaring entitlement costs. Obama did offer a major proposal last year, reducing the cost-of-living increases paid to Social Security recipients, but he made that offer on condition that Republicans agree to increase taxes on the wealthy.
In his new budget, Obama did not include a proposal to trim cost-of-living increases, saying he would not offer that again until Republicans showed flexibility on higher taxes for the wealthy.
Obama’s budget, which proposes spending $3.9 trillion in the budget year that begins on October 1, included many spending and tax proposals he has put forward before. It was met with heavy Republican criticism for spending too much and failing to do enough to tackle the country’s long-term deficit problems.
However, the expectation is that the budget wars of the past three years may subside this year following an agreement reached last December on the broad outlines for spending for the next two years.
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