U.S. Budget Gap Tripled in Fiscal 2020 as Government Battled Pandemic
The annual deficit reached 15.2%, the largest since 1945. The U.S. Capitol building in Washington.
Photo:
alex edelman/Shutterstock
WASHINGTON—The U.S. budget deficit tripled in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday, as the government battled a global pandemic that plunged the country into a recession.
The budget gap in the fiscal year 2020 widened to $3.1 trillion from $984 billion a year earlier, the nonpartisan CBO said. As a share of economic output, the annual deficit reached 15.2%, the largest since 1945, when the country was financing massive military operations to help end World War II.
A surge of federal spending to combat the coronavirus and cushion the U.S. economy, coupled with a drop-off in federal revenues amid widespread shutdowns and layoffs, contributed to the widening deficit this year.
Receipts totaled $3.4 trillion, a 1% decline from the previous year, with much of the drop occurring since March, when the virus began spreading across the country. Outlays hit $6.5 trillion, a 47% increase from last year, as the government ramped up spending on emergency loans for small businesses, enhanced jobless benefits and stimulus payments for American households.
Write to Kate Davidson at [email protected]
Copyright ©2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 87990cbe856818d5eddac44c7b1cdeb8