Washington: The US federal government's budget deficit for December 2024 saw a significant decrease of 33% compared to December of the previous year, as reported by the US Treasury Department on Tuesday.

According to Anadolu Agency, the deficit for the third month of the 2025 fiscal year, which commenced on October 1, 2024, and will conclude on September 30, 2025, was recorded at $87 billion. This is a notable reduction from the $129 billion deficit reported in December 2023. Market analysts had anticipated a budget deficit of $80 billion for this period.

The reduction in the deficit can be attributed to an increase in government revenues, which rose by 6% to $454 billion in December 2024. Concurrently, government expenditures saw a decrease of 3%, amounting to $541 billion. Despite this monthly decrease, the total budget deficit for the fiscal year as of December increased by 39% year-on-year, reaching $711 billion, compared to $510 billion for the same period last year.

In the first quarter of the 2025 fiscal year, government expenditures increased by 11% from the previous year, totaling $1.8 trillion, while revenues saw a decline of approximately 2%, amounting to $1.1 trillion. This trend is reflective of the broader fiscal trajectory, where the US budget deficit for the 2024 fiscal year increased by 8% from the prior year, reaching $1.8 trillion. This figure represents the third-largest budget deficit in the history of the United States.