MOSCOW, October 16 (RIA Novosti) - The US budget deficit for the 2014 fiscal year shrank to a six-year low of $483 billion, the Treasury Department said in a statement Thursday.
"The deficit in FY [fiscal year] 2014 fell to $483 billion, $197 billion less than the FY 2013 deficit and $165 billion less than forecast in President [Barack] Obama's FY 2015 Budget," Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew and Office of Management and Budget Director Shaun Donovan said in a joint statement.
The deficit dropped below 3.0 percent of GDP to 2.8 percent, which is a level last seen in 2007 and less than the average of the past 40 years. The 2014 fiscal year ended on September 30.
According to the statement, revenues surged nine percent, while spending only rose by 1 percent.
The Treasury said the US economy showed "significant and continued progress in reducing the deficit." The statement also credited President Obama with providing "a roadmap for making investments to accelerate economic growth, expand opportunity for all hard-working Americans, and ensure our national security, while continuing to improve the Nation's long-term fiscal outlook."
