Deficit Down 15% for Fiscal 2013

The deficit is down again for March, according to a Treasury Statement released (link opens in PDF) today. After a rare January surplus and a $203.5 billion February deficit, March's numbers drop Uncle Sam's deficit to $106.5 billion.

The improvement reflects both increased revenues (taxes) and decreased spending and showed significant upside over analysts' $172 billion deficit expectation.

Source: fms.treas.gov.

So far for FY 2013, the national deficit stands at $600.5 billion, down 15.2% from FY 2012's $779 billion.

Overall revenues have risen 12.4%, with corporate and individual tax receipts up 18% and 14.7%, respectively.

Spending cuts haven't performed quite as well, but Uncle Sam has still managed to knock 2.5% off his outlays. Defense spending took a major squeeze, down 6.2% to $315 billion.

The article Deficit Down 15% for Fiscal 2013 originally appeared on Fool.com.

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