lamm-mit/skills/usfiscaldata

US Fiscal Data

US Treasury Fiscal Data API. Free, no authentication required. 54 datasets, 182+ tables covering national debt, federal spending, revenue, exchange rates, savings bonds, and interest rates.

Base URL

https://api.fiscaldata.treasury.gov/services/api/fiscal_service

Important: All numeric values are returned as strings. Convert explicitly.

Quick Start

import requests

BASE = "https://api.fiscaldata.treasury.gov/services/api/fiscal_service"

def treasury_get(endpoint, params=None):
    r = requests.get(f"{BASE}/{endpoint}", params=params or {})
    r.raise_for_status()
    return r.json()

# List all available datasets
datasets = treasury_get("v1/accounting/od/debt_outstanding")

Key Datasets

National Debt

# Total public debt outstanding (daily)
debt = treasury_get("v2/accounting/od/debt_outstanding", {
    "fields": "record_date,tot_pub_debt_out_amt",
    "sort": "-record_date",
    "page[size]": 30,
    "filter": "record_date:gte:2024-01-01"
})

for row in debt["data"]:
    print(f"{row['record_date']}: ${float(row['tot_pub_debt_out_amt']):,.0f}")

# Debt by category (marketable vs non-marketable)
debt_cat = treasury_get("v2/accounting/od/debt_outstanding", {
    "fields": "record_date,debt_catg,debt_catg_desc,close_today_bal",
    "filter": "record_date:eq:2024-09-30"
})

Federal Spending & Revenue (Monthly Treasury Statement)

# Monthly receipts and outlays
mts = treasury_get("v1/accounting/mts/mts_table_1", {
    "fields": "record_date,current_month_rcpt_outly_amt,prior_yr_rcpt_outly_amt,line_code_nbr,line_nm",
    "sort": "-record_date",
    "page[size]": 50
})

# Budget categories
budget = treasury_get("v1/accounting/mts/mts_table_5", {
    "fields": "record_date,current_month_gross_outly_amt,classification_desc",
    "filter": "record_date:gte:2024-01-01",
    "sort": "-record_date"
})

Exchange Rates

# Treasury Reporting Rates of Exchange (quarterly)
fx = treasury_get("v1/accounting/od/rates_of_exchange", {
    "fields": "country,country_currency_desc,exchange_rate,record_date",
    "filter": "record_date:gte:2024-01-01",
    "sort": "-record_date,country"
})

for row in fx["data"][:10]:
    print(f"{row['country_currency_desc']}: {row['exchange_rate']} per USD ({row['record_date']})")

Treasury Securities & Interest Rates

# Average interest rates on US debt
rates = treasury_get("v2/accounting/od/avg_interest_rates", {
    "fields": "record_date,security_desc,avg_interest_rate_amt",
    "filter": "record_date:gte:2024-01-01",
    "sort": "-record_date"
})

# Treasury securities outstanding
securities = treasury_get("v1/debt/tsy/pub_debt_securities_type", {
    "fields": "record_date,security_type_desc,securities_outstanding_amt",
    "sort": "-record_date",
    "page[size]": 20
})

Savings Bonds

# I-bond and EE bond rates
ibond = treasury_get("v2/accounting/od/savings_bonds_pcs", {
    "fields": "record_date,bond_series,issue_price,redemp_value",
    "filter": "bond_series:eq:I",
    "sort": "-record_date",
    "page[size]": 12
})

Query Parameters

| Parameter | Format | Example | |-----------|--------|---------| | fields | comma-separated | fields=record_date,tot_debt_out_amt | | filter | field:op:value | filter=record_date:gte:2024-01-01 | | sort | field or -field | sort=-record_date | | page[size] | integer (max 10000) | page[size]=100 | | page[number] | integer | page[number] | | format | json or csv | format=json |

Filter Operators

| Operator | Meaning | Example | |----------|---------|---------| | eq | equals | record_date:eq:2024-09-30 | | gt | greater than | record_date:gt:2024-01-01 | | gte | greater than or equal | record_date:gte:2024-01-01 | | lt | less than | record_date:lt:2025-01-01 | | lte | less than or equal | record_date:lte:2024-12-31 | | in | in list | security_type:in:(Note,Bond) |

Discover Available Tables

# Meta endpoint: list all tables
meta = requests.get("https://api.fiscaldata.treasury.gov/services/api/fiscal_service/v1/").json()

# Get table schema (field names and types)
schema = treasury_get("v1/accounting/od/debt_outstanding/")
print(schema["meta"]["labels"])  # Field descriptions
print(schema["meta"]["dataTypes"])  # Data types

Response Format

{
  "data": [
    {"record_date": "2024-11-01", "tot_pub_debt_out_amt": "35891234567890.12"},
    {"record_date": "2024-10-31", "tot_pub_debt_out_amt": "35874321098765.43"}
  ],
  "meta": {
    "count": 2,
    "labels": {"record_date": "Record Date", "tot_pub_debt_out_amt": "Total Public Debt Outstanding Amount"},
    "dataTypes": {"record_date": "DATE", "tot_pub_debt_out_amt": "CURRENCY"},
    "total-count": 9846,
    "total-pages": 985
  },
  "links": {
    "self": "...", "first": "...", "prev": "...", "next": "...", "last": "..."
  }
}

Use Cases for Scientific Research

• Research funding context: Federal R&D spending trends from budget data
• Economic indicators: Connect macroeconomic conditions to research investment
• Currency risk: Exchange rates for international collaboration cost analysis
• NIH/NSF funding cycles: Correlate federal fiscal data with grant funding patterns
• Inflation analysis: CPI and debt growth for research cost projections

Rate Limits & Access

• Authentication: None required
• Rate limits: Not published; generous for reasonable usage (< 100 req/min)
• Data freshness: Daily for debt data; monthly for MTS; quarterly for exchange rates
• Historical depth: Most tables go back to 1990s–2000s; some to 1970s