CBO Estimates $65 Billion Deficit For First Month of Fiscal Year

Since Fiscal Year (FY) 2024 began on October 1, the United States has already borrowed $65 billion, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review from the Congressional Budget Office.  

The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget: 

One month into the fiscal year and we’ve already borrowed $65 billion, or $2.1 billion per day. We’ve clearly got a long way to go to get our fiscal situation under control. 

The good news is that 2023 has been a good year from a fiscal standpoint. Policymakers have reduced deficit projections over 10 years by a net $1.3 trillion in 2023, mostly as a result of the June enactment of the Fiscal Responsibility Act. It is paramount that we continue this trend of reducing deficits. The first step is not to engage in any new borrowing. 

Few would argue that borrowing $65 billion in a month, indefinitely, would be sustainable. It’s high time that policymakers take this problem seriously and put in place measures that reduce our borrowing and stabilize the growth of the national debt. 

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For more information, please contact Matt Klucher, Communications Manager, at klucher@crfb.org.