Last year was one of change and surprise in federal government fiscal activity. The big change was the official introduction of the new Congressional budgeting procedure and the new fiscal year. The surprise was that the deficit was between $11 and $17 billion less than expected for the 15 months from July 1, 1975 to September 30, 1976. This lower deficit resulted primarily from lower spending, not larger receipts, during the first nine months of calendar 1976.