US budget deficit has dropped by $52 billion, says CBO

According to the Congressional Budget Office, the US budget deficit dropped by $52 billion during the first nine months of the fiscal year from last year.

That deficit was $52 billion lower than during the same period last year.

Both revenues and outlays were higher than the amounts recorded during the same period in fiscal 2014 – by 8 percent and 5 percent, respectively. Outlays means spending or expenditure.

The CBO said that receipts for the first nine months of fiscal year 2015 totaled $2,447 billion, which is $187 billion (or 8 percent) more than receipts in the same period last year. Outlays were $2,762 billion, about $135 billion (or 5 percent) higher than during the same period in 2014.

For the month of June the US federal government recorded a surplus of $51 billion 2015, about $20 billion less than the surplus in the same month last year.

The CBO said that receipts in June were $343 billion, which is $20 billion (or 6 percent) more than last year. Most of that increase was due to an increase in receipts from individual income taxes and payroll taxes – they rose by $16 billion (or 7 percent).

The 14 percent drop to a US$314 billion gap for the October-June period comes as Republicans and Democrats disagree over what government spending should be next year.

Republicans want to boost government spending by around $40 billion next year, while the Democrats say at least twice that is necessary.

President Obama has said that if domestic spending cuts are not eased he may very well veto the measures which are now working their way through Congress, which could result in a government shutdown later this year.