U.S. Deficit Well Below Record

The federal government amassed a budget deficit of $148 billion in the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, a remarkable 33% lower than the all-time record, the Reagan Administration said today, but much of the improvement came from a one-time surge in revenue that won’t be available to help government officials struggling to reduce the 1988 deficit.

The final accounting of the 1987 fiscal year showed that the government managed for the first time in history to spend over $1 trillion in a single year, up 1.2% from 1986. But the increased spending was accompanied by an even larger 11.1% increase in revenues, which totaled $854.1 billion for the 12 months of the budget year. The higher revenues came in large part from a one-time windfall caused by the new tax law.