Treasury hits largest April surplus on record at $214.3 billion

The U.S. Treasury Department posted a banner month in April, with a financial surplus of $214.3 billion, the largest April surplus on record, according to the department’s monthly statement on receipts and outlays.

April is typically a surplus month for the Treasury, as taxpayers file and shell out sums they owe the government.

But the April surge does not necessarily portend good news for the overall deficit.

The Treasury report still estimated that the annual deficit would boom this year, rising to $833 billion from roughly $665 billion in 2017. The cumulative deficit for the fiscal year is already $41 billion higher than at the same point last year, according to the report.

Recent economic growth may have also contributed to the surge in receipts.

“Last month’s strong tax collections are partly a reflection of the robust expansion of the U.S. economy in 2017. This further confirms what previous indicators have shown,” said Shai Akabas, director of economic policy at the Bipartisan Policy Center, of a similar estimate from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) earlier in the week.

Also contributing to the budget boost: one additional day of collections compared with the previous April. That additional day brought in another $19 billion.

“While the monthly figures were a positive uptick, they are only a blip on the radar of a longer trajectory,” said Akabas.

According to the CBO report earlier this week, interest payments were the largest contributor to spending growth in April.