Treasury cuts its borrowing estimate, will borrow 'only' $406 billion this quarter

It's a cliché, but it applies here: in this economy, you take the good news where you can get it.

The good news is that the U.S. Treasury has cut its borrowing estimate for the federal government's fiscal Q4 (July to September), to $406 billion -- down a whopping $109 billion from the previous estimate of $515 billion.

The Treasury also announced that it borrowed $343 billion in fiscal Q3 which ended June 30, compared to the $361 billion forecast for the quarter three months ago; the department expects to borrow $486 billion in the first quarter of fiscal year 2010 (October-December), also lower than the $569 billion deficit in the same period a year ago.