(Reuters) – The U.S. government recorded an $88 billion budget deficit in October, the first month of the new fiscal year, the Treasury Department said on Thursday.
That compared to a budget deficit of $165 billion in the same month last year, according to the Treasury’s monthly budget statement. Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a $90 billion deficit for the month.
However, when adjusted for calendar effects, in particular a shift of $62 billion in benefit payments into September due to the first day of October falling on a weekend, the deficit for October was $149 billion compared with an adjusted deficit of $157 billion in October 2021.
Unadjusted receipts last month totaled $319 billion, up 12% from October 2021, while unadjusted outlays were $406 billion, a decline of 9% from the same month a year earlier.
The U.S. government’s fiscal year ends in September each year. Fiscal year 2022 saw the deficit plunge by half from a year earlier to $1.375 trillion, due to fading COVID-19 relief spending and record revenues fueled by a hot economy, but student loan forgiveness costs limited the reduction.
(Reporting by Lindsay Dunsmuir; Editing by Andrea Ricci)