Friday, March 20, 2009

Budget Deficit: $1.85 Trillion


The U.S. budget deficit in 2009 is projected to spike to between $1.67 trillion and $1.85 trillion, according to estimates released Friday by the Congressional Budget Office...

"CBO's estimates of the deficits under the president's budget are higher each year than those estimated by the administration -- by $93 billion for 2009 and by about $2.3 trillion for the 2010-2019 period," the report said...

An annual deficit between $1.67 trillion and $1.85 trillion would mark a record in dollar terms and the highest as a share of gross domestic product since World War II. It would represent between 11.9% and 13.1% of GDP.

The enormous leap in the annual deficit -- it was $459 billion in 2008 -- is primarily due to the effects of the financial and economic crises and the government's response to them...

read the CNN story

My thoughts: $2 trillion. We are six months away from the end of the fiscal year. Another stimulus package and rosy scenario projections will likely drive the deficit well beyond $2 trillion.

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