Budget deficit at record high for March

The U.S. budget deficit is running slightly lower than last year’s through the first six months of the budget year but is still on track to top $1 trillion for a fourth straight year. The Treasury Department said that the deficit in March totaled $198.2 billion, a record for that month. That left the gap through the first half of fiscal 2012 at $779 billion, down 6.1% from a year before. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts a deficit of $1.17 trillion for the entire 2012 budget year, which began Oct. 1. That would be a small improvement from last year’s $1.3 trillion deficit.