Budget deficit on track for six-year low

The government ran a budget surplus in April, as tax receipts poured into the Treasury’s coffers, keeping the deficit on track to hit its lowest level in six years.

The Treasury Department said Monday that revenue hit $414 billion leading to a $106.9 billion surplus in April, a month that typically sees a surge in tax receipts.

{mosads}The deficit for the year is running at $306.4 billion, a drop of 37 percent from the same period last year.

The nation recorded $1.735 trillion in revenue in the first seven months of fiscal 2014, which is an increase of 8.2 percent from the same time last year.

So far, spending is down 2 percent to $2.041 trillion in fiscal 2014, which started Oct. 1. 

Revenue has been boosted by a stronger economy and congressional efforts to cut spending.

In a separate report last month, the Congressional Budget Office estimated a deficit of $492 billion for 2014, which would be the best showing since 2008, when the deficit was $458.6 billion.

Entrenched in the recession, the deficit hit a record high of $1.4 trillion in 2009, remaining stuck above $1 trillion until dropping to $680.2 billion in 2013.