Updated: 13-Nov-07 14:17 ET

October Treasury Budget

Updated: 13-Nov-07 14:17 ET

Highlights

• October budget deficit of $55.6 bln. 
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Key Factors

• Start of FY08 starts with a defict $6 bln larger than a year ago.
• 12 month sum rose to -$169 bln from the -$163 bln deficit in FY07.
• October receipts rose 6% as outlays rose 8%.
• Early estimate for FY08 is a little hazy.  White House sees a large gain, CBO expects a slight decline.

Big Picture

• Strong tax receipt growth continued to leave a path toward lower deficits given the economy, profits and income growth.  Spending was cut back to the slowest growth in ten years in FY07 despite the war expenditures.  The FY05 improvement sliced away a quarter of the record $413 bln FY04 deficit as FY06 sliced away another $71 bln and FY07 another $85 bln.  We're not optimistic that the deficit slimming will continue in to FY08.  The FY07 deficit of $163 bln amounted to just 1.2% of GDP.