WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 17th October, 2020) The US Federal budget deficit reached an all-time high of $3.13 trillion in the fiscal year that ended on September 30 amid massive spending to contain the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, the Treasury Department said in a statement on Friday.
"The Trump Administration has provided assistance to American workers and families, small businesses, and state, local, and tribal governments, and preserved jobs for American industry.� Primarily due to these efforts, the deficit in FY 2020 was $3.1 trillion � $2.0 trillion more than forecast in the FY 2021 President's Budget," the statement said.
Government receipts totaled $3.42 trillion, which was lower than budget expectations and represented a 1 percent decrease from the previous year. Outlays, meanwhile, grew substantially to reach $6.552 trillion, a 47 percent increase from fiscal year 2019, it added.
The US Congress has approved roughly $3 trillion in assistance since March under four phases of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act to provide grants and loans to US businesses and paycheck protection to qualifying citizens and permanent residents.
Democrats in Congress have been locked in a stalemate since with Senate Republicans on a successive package to the CARES, arguing over the size of the next relief, as thousands of Americans, particularly those in the airlines sector, risk losing their jobs without further aid.
The US economy shrank 5 percent in the first three months of 2020 and nearly 33 percent in the second quarter to hand the United States its worst recession in history as most of the 50 states in the country went into lockdown to stem the outbreak of the virus. While most businesses have reopened from May, new COVID-19 infections since mid-June have limited recovery.
