U.S. Treasury posts $43 billion deficit in July

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The U.S. government on Thursday reported a smaller deficit for July compared to the previous year as a result of an increase in tax receipts and less spending on healthcare.

The deficit of $43 billion last month compared to a deficit of $113 billion in the year-earlier period, the Treasury Department said in its monthly budget statement.

Economists polled by Reuters had forecast the Treasury reporting a $73 billion deficit last month.

When accounting for calendar adjustments, the deficit last month was $93 billion on an adjusted basis compared with a $113 billion deficit in the same period of fiscal 2016.

The deficit for the fiscal year to date was $566 billion compared to $512 billion in July 2016. On an adjusted basis, the fiscal-year-to-date deficit was $611 billion last month versus $512 billion in the year-earlier period.

Receipts last month totaled $232 billion, up 10 percent from a year ago, while outlays were $275 billion, a decrease of 15 percent from the same month a year earlier.

The U.S. government is bumping up against its debt limit, with the possibility that it will be unable to pay all its bills in October unless Congress approves an increase in its borrowing capacity.

(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Paul Simao)

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