Updated: 10-Apr-24 14:29 ET
| March Treasury Budget |
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| Updated: 10-Apr-24 14:29 ET |
Highlights
- The Treasury Budget for March showed a deficit of $236.5 billion compared to a deficit of $378.4 billion in the same period a year ago. The March deficit resulted from outlays ($568.5 billion) exceeding receipts ($332.1 billion).
- The Treasury Budget data is not seasonally adjusted so the March deficit cannot be compared to the February deficit of $296.3 billion.
Key Factors
- Individual Income Taxes were the largest source of receipts in March ($161 billion), followed by Social Insurance & Retirement receipts ($140 billion), Corporate Income Taxes ($15 billion), and Excise Taxes ($7 billion).
- The largest outlays by function were Social Security ($122 billion), Income Security ($82 billion), Health ($79 billion), Net Interest ($79 billion), and National Defense ($70 billion).
- The fiscal year-to-date deficit is $1.1 trillion, which is 3% lower than the same period a year ago.
Big Picture
- The key takeaway from the report is that net interest was still a significant part of total outlays (14%) and will likely remain so in the coming months due to the upward pressure on interest rates.
| Category | MAR | FEB | JAN | DEC | NOV |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus | -$236.5B | -$296.3B | -$21.9B | -$129.3B | -$314.0B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus Fiscal YTD | -$1064.9B | -$828.1B | -$531.9B | -$509.9B | -$380.6B |
| Deficit (-)/Surplus over last 12 months | -$1658.8B | -$1800.8B | -$1766.9B | -$1783.8B | -$1739.4B |