Budget Balance reads -$166.8B as of 2026-08-01. Change from prior reading: +265.51. Current value sits at the 51th percentile of the trailing 5 years. Sourced from fred, refreshed every 6 hours, and free to access via the JSON API.
Federal Budget Balance (Monthly Surplus or Deficit)
MTSDS133FMS — the Monthly Treasury Statement bottom line. The sign is the source's: a NEGATIVE value is a deficit, a positive one a surplus. Single months say very little on their own, because the series is dominated by calendar effects — April usually posts a surplus on tax receipts, and a month whose first day falls on a weekend pulls benefit payments forward into the month before. Read the 12-month rolling sum, or compare a month with the same month a year earlier. Released about eight business days after month end.
Core Print
-$166.8B+265.51
Historical Position: 51%Last updated: 2026-08-01
Historical Position51%
Current Interpretation
Budget Balance is currently -166.80 (daily change +265.51). Based on its standardized historical distribution (z-score), current positioning reflects a "neutral range". Check related plumbing indicators to evaluate broader systemic conditions.