The federal deficit for the month of February rose to a record $235 billion, according to the Monthly Treasury Statement released Wednesday. Some key details:
- The deficit for the 2020 fiscal year, which began last October, now stands at $625 billion, compared to $544 billion a for the same period year ago – a roughly 15% increase.
- Total monthly receipts were $188 billion, up 12% from a year ago, while total outlays came to $423 billion, up 5%.
- Adjusted for calendar effects, such as the timing of weekends and holidays, the deficit came to $238 billion.
- The Treasury Department estimates that the total deficit for the 2020 fiscal year will exceed $1 trillion.
Needless to say, the deficit watchers at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget were not pleased with the news, especially in light of the health crisis currently threatening the U.S. “It is beyond distressing that we may be entering a period of national emergency with record-high levels of borrowing,” CRFB’s Maya MacGuineas said in a statement. “We ran higher deficits in February than any time in our nation’s history – and that was before any large effects of the coronavirus outbreak.”