US budget deficit this year nearly doubles previous record

The US federal budget deficit for the first six months of the fiscal year swelled to $1.7 trillion as more stimulus outlays added billions of dollars to government spending last month.

The United States government’s budget deficit surged to an all-time high of $1.7 trillion for the first six months of this budget year, nearly double the previous record, as another round of economic-support cheques added billions of dollars to spending last month. In its monthly budget report, the US Department of the Treasury said Monday that the deficit for the first half of the budget year — from October through March — was up from a shortfall of $743.5bn for the same period a year ago. The deficit has been driven higher by trillions of dollars in support that Congress has passed in successive economic rescue packages since the coronavirus pandemic struck in early March 2020. The latest round came in a $1.9 trillion measure that President Joe Biden pushed through Congress last month.