The United States registers a US$1.294 trillion budget deficit in the just-completed fiscal year that ended on Sept. 30, the US Treasury Department announced on Friday.

This figure fell in line with analysts' prediction. It is improving from US$1.42 trillion in the 2009 fiscal year, but still leaves this year's government deficit nearly three times as large as that in the 2008 fiscal year standing at US$455 billion.

"The decline in the deficit from last year was due to a combination of higher receipts and lower outlays," according to a joint statement released by US Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Office of Management and Budget Acting Director Jeffrey Zients.

The US government receipts totaled US$2.162 trillion in the 2010 fiscal year, and were US$57 billion higher than the previous fiscal year, an increase of 2.7 percent.

The department attributed the receipts turnaround trailing two years of decline to higher corporation income tax receipts and receipts from the Federal Reserve. But the government revenue gain was partially offset by a decline in individual income and payroll tax receipts.

Data revealed that outlays in the 2010 fiscal year topped US$3.456 trillion, US$64 billion less than the previous fiscal year, an increase of 1.8 percent.

Spending for three large programs related to the financial crisis declined by US$242 billion, year over year, from US$272 billion in the 2009 fiscal year to 30 billion dollars in the 2010 fiscal year.

"This played a large part in reducing the deficit, which as a percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) fell to 8.9 percent, down from 10 percent of GDP in the 2009 fiscal year," said the statement.

However, spending rose for major entitlement programs in the world's largest economy such as Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and unemployment benefits in the 2010 fiscal year.

(Xinhua News Agency October 16, 2010)