U.S. Budget Deficit Hits New Record In February

Washington, DC, United States (AHN) – The U.S. Treasury Department said the nation’s budget deficit widened in February as government spending far exceeded receipts.

Outlays surpassed receipts in February by $221 billion, according to the Treasury, marking the largest deficit for a single month in U.S. history. Outlays totaled about 328.5 billion in February, while receipts were $107.5 billion.

U.S. corporations contribution to receipts has declined despite a rebounding economy as the government has only collected $45.4 billion year-to-date, compared to $52.8 billion in the first five months of fiscal 2009.

The Treasury also said $16.9 billion in outlays were for interest on its debt securities, representing about 5 percent of total outlays for February.

Obama administration has run a budget deficit every month since taking office as broad-based stimulus and spending plans were put into place to jumpstart the economy. Obama recently signed a bill that raised the ceiling on federal debt to $14.3 trillion, a $1.9 trillion increase.

The fiscal year 2010 budget, which began in October, now has a deficit in excess of $650 billion and is expected to top the $1.4 trillion record registered in Fiscal 2009. Five months into fiscal 2009 the budget deficit stood just under $590 billion.

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