The U.S. deficit this year is 30.3 percent higher than the $ 1.48 trillion deficit accumulated over the same period each year, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday.
The U.S. budget deficit hit a record $ 1.9 trillion for the first seven months of this fiscal year, inflated by billions of dollars spent on coronavirus relief programs.
The deficit so far this year is 30.3% higher than the $ 1.48 trillion deficit accumulated over the same period a year ago, the US Treasury Department said in its budget report on Wednesday. monthly.
The oceans of red ink over the two years are largely due to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, which has led the government to approve billions of dollars in relief to cover three rounds of individual payments, additional unemployment and support for small businesses.
The deficit for the budget year that ended September 30 totaled a record $ 3.1 trillion and many private economists believe this year’s total will exceed that amount. Some are projecting a deficit of $ 3.3 trillion.
For April, the deficit totaled $ 225.6 billion, compared to an April 2020 deficit of $ 738 billion. This improvement reflected the fact that fewer relief payments had been made this year and that individuals making quarterly tax payments had to meet the normal April deadline. Last year, all tax payments were delayed at the start of the pandemic.
For the October-April period, revenues totaled $ 2.14 trillion, up 16.1% from the same period a year ago, a gain that was boosted by payments from quarterly personal taxes in April. The April payment was delayed last year after 22 million people lost their jobs due to closures due to a pandemic.
Spending for the first seven months of this fiscal year totaled $ 4.07 trillion, up 25.8 percent from the same period a year ago, as the government in both periods adopted policies. Massive pandemic relief bills.
The $ 1.93 trillion deficit for the first seven months of this fiscal year was $ 459.4 billion higher than the $ 1.48 trillion deficit accumulated in the same period a year ago.
