Treasury Reports $1.6 Trillion Deficit For First 10 Months of Fiscal Year

The United States borrowed $1.6 trillion in the first ten months of fiscal year 2023, including $221 billion in July, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement from the Treasury Department.

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

At $1.6 trillion, or $5.3 billion per day, the deficit for the first ten months of the fiscal year is more than we borrowed in all of 2022. Unfortunately, our borrowing will only increase further until we finally decide that enough is enough.

The recent Fitch downgrade should jolt policymakers awake. Regardless of one’s opinion on the timing, the core concerns about our fiscal situation are undeniable. We are watching deficits climb, debt soar, and the Social Security and Medicare trust funds near exhaustion. And even though we achieved actual savings with the Fiscal Responsibility Act, lawmakers are already trying to reward themselves with cake after having their first salad in a decade – considering massive tax cuts and further spending increases that could erode away all of the FRA’s savings.

Today’s report from the Treasury reminds us that building healthier fiscal habits takes time, commitment, and perseverance. Establishing a bipartisan fiscal commission to explore all areas of the budget and tax code, with leaders of both parties around the same table, would offer the opportunity to set things in the right direction. Approaching these conversations will take an extraordinary amount of honesty and political courage – yet these are extraordinary times, and we invite each of our nation’s leaders to meet the moment.

###

For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org.