Saturday, August 6, 2016
CBO: Deficit larger than expected. Washington takes in record tax receipts and still spends more.
The federal government has sunk deeper into the red than analysts projected just five months ago, and is now poised to post a $590 billion shortfall this fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.
That’s some $56 billion worse than the CBO had projected in March, and it comes as new spending far outpaces revenues.
Both individual and corporate income tax revenue is down so far this year — though the reasons are not fully clear yet, analysts said. What is clear, though, is that government spending continues to rise, and when adjusted for the timing of payments is up about 3 percent compared to 2015.
“The government’s revenues and spending so far this fiscal year lead CBO to expect that the annual deficit will total $590 billion — rather than the $534 billion that the agency projected in March, when it released its most recent set of budget projections,” the CBO said in its monthly budget review. “In large part, that increase stems from lower-than-expected revenues.”
The analysts promised a more complete projection later in August.
The fiscal year began Oct. 1, and with 10 months in the books, the numbers are beginning to firm up.
Analysts said tax revenue so far is $2.7 trillion, while spending is $3.2 trillion, for a deficit of $514 billion so far. That’s compared to just $466 billion through 10 months last year.
Labels:
Tax and Spend
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