U.S. Posts $59.1B Budget Surplus In April, First In More Than 3 Years

U.S. Budget — The fiscal 2013 budget President Barack Obama will present to Congress on Monday will include hundreds of billions in infrastructure spending and a projected deficit of $901 billion, or about 5.5 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. REUTERS

The U.S. government had a budget surplus of $59.1 billion in April on increased tax revenue and spending cuts, the first surplus in more than three years, the Treasury Department said Thursday.

The result beat a Bloomberg economist forecast of $35 billion. In April 2011 the government ran a $40.4 billion deficit. Receipts increased by 10 pecent to $318 billion compared to the prior year, and spending was down 21 percent to $259 billion.

Through the first seven months of the fiscal year, beginning Oct. 1, the deficit is $719 billion, $150 billion lower than the same time in 2011.

The Congressional Budget Office forecasts the budget to hit $1.17 trillion in the 2012 budget year.

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