The United States of America begins fiscal year 2021 with a 111% jump in the October deficit
The US Treasury Department said that the government starts fiscal year 2021 with a deficit in the October budget of $ 284 billion, which is a record for the month, as spending related to the Corona virus increased strongly compared to a year ago and revenues decreased, representing an increase of 111 percent compared to the October 2019 deficit of 134 $ 1 billion, 61 percent more than the previous record for October of $ 176 billion in 2009, during the financial crisis and recession.
It follows a record full-year deficit of $ 3.132 trillion for the fiscal year 2020, which ended on September 30, more than three times the deficit in the previous year due to spending of support linked to Covid-19, and Treasury officials say that the deficit in 2020 partially curbed the decline in spending. And strong revenues in the first months of the fiscal year before the pandemic shut down large parts of the economy in March.
Mark Goldwyn, senior vice president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said the fiscal deficit this year could reach between $ 1.5 trillion and $ 2 trillion if Congress does not pass more coronavirus spending bills.
Before the Covid-19 pandemic, the United States was on a track of recording a trillion dollar deficit in fiscal year 2021 due to Republican-backed tax cuts in 2017 that reduced revenues.
