WASHINGTON – The federal government posted a $40.5 billion budget deficit in April, the smallest monthly deficit since September, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.
Outlays totaled $330.0 billion and receipts were $289.5 billion in April.
Economists expected a $65.0 billion deficit for the month, according to the median estimate from Thomson Reuters. The March federal deficit was unrevised at $188.2 billion.
The April deficit declined by $42 billion, 51%, compared to April 2010. Personal income taxes came in stronger than expected during April tax season, Treasury said. The stronger returns helped push estimates of when the U.S. would hit its the debt ceiling back six weeks into August.
For the fiscal year through April, the deficit was down $91 billion, to $870 billion, from the same period a year ago. The number is adjusted for a one-time downward estimate in cost of the Troubled Asset Relief Program and a prepaid Federal Deposit Trust Insurance Corp. assessment, Treasury said.
