Treasury projects record borrowing of $947B in 3rd quarter
The Treasury Department is projecting government borrowing of $947 billion in the current July-September period, which would be a record for the quarter but down from the all-time high of $2.75 trillion in this year’s second quarter.
Treasury officials also announced Monday that the government plans to borrow $1.22 trillion in the October-December period.
Those amounts include $1 trillion in expected borrowing to finance another economic stimulus package, which is tied up in negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.
Treasury officials said the $1 trillion amount, spread over this quarter and the October-December period is essentially a place holder since both sides remain far apart on the issue of how much support is needed for the economy, on top of the more than $3 trillion Congress has already provided.
The House in May approved a $3.5 trillion measure which the Republican-controlled Senate has refused to take up. Instead, GOP senators have indicated they favor a smaller $1 trillion package.
The $947 billion in projected borrowing for the current quarter surpasses the old mark for the period of $530 billion set in 2008 when the government was having to spend large sums to deal with the 2008 financial crisis.
The Congressional Budget Office is projecting that the deficit for this year will soar to $3.7 trillion, far surpassing the previous record deficit of $1.4 trillion in 2009, the first time the shortfall for a single year topped $1 trillion.
The government’s new borrowing for this budget year, which ends Sept. 30, is expected to total $4.51 trillion under Treasury’s current projections. Much of that borrowing is for rolling over existing debt.