The U.S. budget deficit fell to $435 billion in fiscal 2015, its lowest level in eight years, according to congressional scorekeepers.
The Congressional Budget Office found that the 2015 deficit decreased $48 billion from the previous year, and is less than a third as large as the record deficits set early in President Obama’s tenure in the Oval Office.
{mosads}According to CBO, an eight percent increase in tax revenue drove the drop in the deficit. The scorekeepers found that economic growth and higher wages and profits sparked higher receipts from income, corporate and payroll taxes.
Government spending also ticked up five percent last year, including a 16 percent hike in Medicaid spending, a seven percent spike for Medicare and a four percent increase for Social Security.
The 2015 fiscal year ended on Sept. 30. As it enters a new fiscal year, Congress faces a November deadline to raise the country’s borrowing limit, and must extend government funding by December.