The federal government ran a $37 billion budget deficit in March, down from $107 billion in the year-ago month, the U.S. Treasury Department reported Thursday.
Economists and analysts were forecasting a $78 federal budget shortfall this March, according to Yahoo Finance data.
Federal tax receipts increased 16 percent to $216 billion in March 2014 from $186 billion in March 2013.
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Spending declined 14 percent to $253 billion this March from $293 billion in the year-earlier month. However, most of that decline was due to the timing of government-benefit payments that were made in February this year instead of March last year, according to an AP story. Spending fell 2 percent in March, taking out the effect of those payment shifts.
March marks the sixth month of the federal government’s fiscal year. Halfway through the 2014 budget year, the U.S. government has posted a $413 billion deficit, down 31 percent from a $600 billion deficit at this same point in the 2013 fiscal year.
Tax receipts have increased by 10 percent so far this financial year, while spending is down 3.5 percent, according to the Treasury Department.
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