Budget deficit is $ 3.1T, breaking ’ 09 mark

WASHINGTON — The federal budget deficit hit an all- time high of $ 3.1 trillion in the 2020 budget year, more than double the previous record, as the coronavirus pandemic shrank revenues and sent spending soaring.

The Trump administration reported Friday that the deficit for the budget year that ended Sept. 30 was three times the size of last year’s deficit of $ 984 billion. It was also $ 2 trillion higher than the administration had estimated in February, before the pandemic hit.

It was the government’s largest annual shortfall in dollar terms, surpassing the previous record of $ 1.4 trillion set in 2009. At that time, the Obama administration was spending heavily to shore up the nation’s banking system and limit the economic damage from the 2008 financial crisis.

The 2020 deficit represented 15.2% of total gross domestic product. That was the highest level since 1945.

The final accounting of the 2020 budget year shows revenues fell by 1.2% to $ 3.42 trillion, while government spending surged 47.3% to $ 6.55 trillion. That spending reflects the relief programs Congress passed in the spring to support the economy as millions of Americans were losing their jobs.

Many of the benefit programs expired in late July or early August, and so far Democrats and Republicans have been unable to agree on legislation to reinstate them.