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The U.S. federal government budget deficit fell to 680 billion dollars for the 2013 fiscal year, as its revenue increased and spending dwindled, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.
It is the first time since 2008 that the annual shortfall has fallen below 1 trillion dollars, 409 billion dollars less than the previous fiscal year.
U.S. government receipts totaled 2.77 trillion dollars for the 2013 fiscal year, which ended September. That marked an increase of 13.3 percent, or 325 billion dollars, from the previous fiscal year.
Outlays for the 2013 fiscal year stood at 3.45 billion dollars, 84 billion dollars below those in the previous fiscal year, a decrease of 2.4 percent.
For September alone, the U.S. federal government reported a budget surplus of 75 billion dollars, said the Treasury. The government raked in a revenue of 301 billion dollars and registered outlays of 226 billion dollars.
"As a percent of Gross Domestic Product, the deficit fell to 4.1 percent, representing a reduction of more than half from the deficit that the Administration inherited when the President took office in 2009," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew said in a joint statement with White House Office of Management and Budget Director Sylvia Mathews on the report.
"Congress must build on this progress by crafting a pro-jobs and pro-growth budget agreement that strengthens the economy while maintaining fiscal discipline," the statement noted.
