The U.S. borrowed $488 billion in the first three months of 2018, according to a Treasury statement Monday, $47 billion more than projected back in January. The final amount sets a new record for the first quarter, surpassing the $483 billion borrowed in the first quarter of 2010, when the country was struggling in the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis.
The Treasury said it expects to borrow significantly less in the coming months: $75 billion in the second quarter and $273 billion in the third.
The Congressional Budget Office expects the annual deficit to hit $804 billion in the 2018 fiscal year, rising to $981 billion in 2019 and more than $1 trillion a year in 2020 and beyond.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuhcin said that he’s not concerned about the market for new Treasury securities: "There is a lot of supply, but I think the market can handle it," Mnuchin said in an interview on Bloomberg TV.
