The federal deficit fell to $439 billion in fiscal 2015, the Treasury reported Thursday, the smallest government shortfall since 2007.
The deficit was $44 billion less than the year before, the Treasury said in its final budget results.
As a share of the economy, the annual government shortfall was the smallest since 2007, before the financial crisis sent deficits soaring over $1 trillion, and below the 40-year average.
Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said that President Obama has put the federal government’s finances on “a sustainable footing while laying the foundation for durable economic growth and broadly shared prosperity.”
“Under the president’s leadership, the deficit has been cut by roughly three-quarters as a share of the economy since 2009 — the fastest sustained deficit reduction since just after World War II,” Lew added.
The official budget results reported by the Treasury are mostly in line with the estimates provided by the Congressional Budget Office last week.
The government spent $3.688 trillion, or 20.7 percent of U.S. gross domestic product, up from $3.504 trillion the year before. It raised $3.249 trillion, or 18.3 percent of GDP, also an increase over the $3.02 trillion raised in 2014.
The growth in revenue was mostly attributable to the stronger economy, which resulted in greater taxable income.
Spending was higher mainly on entitlement programs such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and Obamacare.
But lower revenues at the bailed-out mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac also contributed to the deficit. In the government’s accounting, those revenues are counted as offsets to spending.
