US Govt Posted $164.40 Bln Total Budget Deficit In November
12/10 02:00 PM
WASHINGTON (Dow Jones)--The U.S. government spent far more than it collected during November, pushing the deficit above $400 billion only two months into the fiscal year.
The government ran a deficit of $164.4 billion last month, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. It had an unrevised deficit of $237.2 billion in October. Year to date in fiscal 2009, the deficit totaled $401.57 billion.
For all of fiscal 2008, which ended in September, the government had a budget deficit of $454.8 billion, which was a record.
A Dow Jones Newswires survey projected a deficit in November of $171 billion, which was the same estimate of the Congressional Budget Office.
Treasury's monthly budget statement for November showed receipts totaled $ 144.8 billion, down from $151.1 billion a year earlier.
Outlays in the second month of fiscal 2009 totaled $309.2 billion, up from $ 249.3 billion the same month a year earlier. The $309.2 billion is a record for the month of November.
The record outlays partly reflect $76.47 billion in spending under the Troubled Asset Relief Program. Year to date, the disbursement is $191.47 billion.
In its monthly budget statement, Treasury said it bought $23.2 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities in November; year to date, purchases totaled $ 44.7 billion. Treasury became the buyer of last resort for these bonds when it announced the takeover of Fannie Mae (FNM:$0.7167,$-0.0733,-9.28%) and Freddie Mac (FRE:$0.7367,$-0.0533,-6.75%) in early September. The bonds, guaranteed by Fannie and Freddie, play a critical role in the housing finance market. The yields on these bonds determine the mortgage rates that consumers pay on their home loans.
Individual income-tax receipts in November totaled $60.10 billion. Corporate tax receipts totaled $2.0 billion.
Net interest on the federal debt was $22.76 billion.
The Treasury said it plans to release budget data for December on Jan. 13, 2009.
-By Jeff Bater, Dow Jones Newswires; 202 862 9249; jeff.bater@dowjones.com
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12-10-081400ET
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