WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. government deficit in the first three months of the fiscal year was a record $ 572.9 billion, 60.7% higher than the same period a year ago, as spending on COVID-19 pandemic rose while revenues increased. refused.
The Treasury Department reported Wednesday that three months after the start of the fiscal year, the deficit was $ 216.3 billion higher than the same period from October to December a year ago.
The deficit reflects an 18.3% increase in spending to $ 1.38 trillion, a record for the period, while revenues fell 0.4% to $ 803.37 billion. The red ink is the result of the difference between the collection of income and expenses.
In December alone, the deficit reached a record $ 143.6 billion.
The deficit for the fiscal year 2020, which ended on September 30, reached a record high of $ 3.1 trillion. Starting in the spring, Congress approved spending measures worth a trillion dollars to combat the damage to the economy caused by a pandemic downturn.
The recession, in which millions of Americans have lost their jobs, has also led to a decline in tax revenues at a time when demand for government support programs such as unemployment benefits and food stamps has increased.
The report showed spending in December reached a record $ 489.7 billion, while receipts were $ 346.1 billion.
The amount spent did not include the $ 900 billion aid package that Congress eventually passed after months of struggling, as it was not signed into law until the end of the month. President Donald Trump delayed signing the bill, which he called a “disgrace” because it included only $ 600 in direct payments to individuals.
President-elect Joe Biden has approved increasing direct payments by an additional $ 1,400. He has said a higher amount will be included in a new round of aid payments that he will ask Congress to approve once he takes office on Jan. 20.
In addition to direct payments, the December bill extended two special unemployment benefit programs designed to absorb the blow of the pandemic. Unemployment benefits totaled $ 80 billion from October to December, up from $ 5 billion in the same period last fiscal year.
The Congressional Budget Office has forecast that the deficit will total $ 1.8 trillion this year and the deficit will remain above $ 1 trillion every year by 2030. additional expenses that Congress can pass on after Biden takes office.
Nancy Vanden Houten, senior economist at Oxford Economics, predicts the deficit will be at least $ 2.6 trillion this year, an estimate that stimulus controls will be ramped up to a total of $ 2,000.