U.S. Budget Deficit Hits All-time High in May

The U.S. federal budget deficit hit an all-time high of 165.9 billion dollars in May, more than double the imbalance in the same month of 2007, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.

The May deficit reflected 48 billion dollars in payments as part of the government's 168-billion-dollar economic stimulus effort to help bolster the economy.

For the first eight months of this budget year, which began on Oct. 1, 2007, the federal deficit totals 319.4 billion dollars, slightly below the record red ink of 346 billion dollars for this period set in the 2004 budget year.

The budget deficit for the past eight months was more than double the 148.5 billion dollar deficit for the same period of last year.

So far this fiscal year, revenues have climbed up by 0.3 percent from a year earlier to 1.67 trillion dollars, while outlays have jumped by 9.7 percent to 1.99 trillion dollars.

In its latest budget plan sent to Congress in February, the Bush administration estimated that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year would be 410 billion dollars, close to the all- time high of 413 billion dollars set in 2004.

However, analysts expect the federal budget deficit to exceed the previous record year due to the economic stimulus effort and the impact of the weakening economy on government receipts.

In February, the Bush administration also projected that the government could eliminate the deficit completely and return to a surplus by 2012.

The U.S. federal budget was in surplus for four years from 1998 through 2001. 

 

Source: CRIEnglish