The Week Ahead

Federal purse

New government data should provide insight into how much money Uncle Sam took in and paid out last month.

The February report showed that the federal government’s receipts and outlays translated into a deficit of $192 billion for the month. Economists predict that the March shortfall was $150 billion. In March last year, the government ended the month with a shortfall of $108 billion. The Treasury Department issues its latest data on Wednesday.

Bank earnings

Some of the biggest banks on Wall Street serve up their latest quarterly earnings on Thursday.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Fargo are among the banks due to report first-quarter results. Growing consumer borrowing and rising interest rates have helped boost earnings for lenders. Overall, U.S. banks’ earnings jumped 7.7 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 from a year earlier.

Flat prices?

A gauge of inflation is expected to show little change in prices paid by consumers last month.

The Labor Department’s consumer price index is due out Friday. Economists predict that the index will show no change in March. The February reading showed a tempered increase of 0.1 percent following a 0.6 percent rise in January. All told, consumer prices rose 2.7 percent over the 12 months ended in February.