The federal government ran a $225 billion deficit in April, bringing the total deficit for the first seven months of fiscal year 2021 to $1.9 trillion, according to estimates from the Congressional Budget Office.
The total for October through April is $449 billion, or 23%, more than the deficit for the same period last year, and larger than any full-year deficit prior to 2020, according to The Hill.
Outlays over the first seven months of the year were 22% higher than the same period a year ago, mostly as the result of pandemic-related emergency programs such as refundable tax credits (commonly known as “stimulus checks”), unemployment compensation and the Paycheck Protection Program of loans to small businesses. Revenues were 16% higher.
