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WASHINGTON: The US budget deficithit an all-time high of $3 trillion for the first 11 months of this budget year, the treasury department said on Friday. The ocean of red ink is a product of the governments massive spending to try to cushion the impact of a coronavirus-fueled recession that has cost millions of jobs. The deficit from October through August is more than double the previous 11-month record of $1. 37 trillion set in 2009. At that time the government was spending large sums to get out of the Great Recession triggered by the 2008 financial crisis. With one month to go in the 2020 budget year, which ends September 30, the deficit could go even higher. The Congressional Budget Office is forecasting the deficit this year will hit a record $3. 3 trillion. While the government has sometimes run surpluses in September, Nancy Vanden Houten, an economist at Oxford Economist, predicted the September deficit would hit $200 billion, giving the country a deficit for this budget year of $3. 2 trillion. More on Covid-19That would be well above last years imbalance of $984 billion. The previous record deficit for a fiscal year was $1. 4 trillion in 2009 in the aftermath of the financial crisis. Congress has passed a series of relief bills totaling nearly $3 trillion that provided support such as a $600-a-week boost in unemployment benefits, up to $1,200 in payments to individuals and aid for small businesses trying to retain their workers. However, many of the support programs ended in early August and efforts to approve another measure to restore the expired programs have so far failed in Congress. That has raised concerns among economists that with so many people still out of work and so many businesses struggling to re-open, the economic recovery could wither by late this year. The deficit for August totaled $200 billion, matching the August 2019 deficit and reflecting the fact that with relief programs expiring, the gains in monthly government
