US budget gap widens to $49.8 bln in January

WASHINGTON (AFP) – The US budget deficit in January was $49.8 billion, a 16.8 percent rise from a year earlier but less than had been expected, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.

The number was encouraging as analysts had forecast a figure in the range of $59.5 billion.

Nevertheless, expenditures grew 11.3 percent year-on-year in January, faster than receipts, which increased only 10.2 percent.

It was the 28th consecutive month that Washington spent more than it took in in taxes.

But measured over the first four months of the October-September fiscal year, the new figures showed the deficit overall continued to shrink: $418.8 billion for October-January, compared to $430.7 billion a year earlier, according to Treasury data.

The size and direction of the deficit will be a major political issue when the White House releases its budget for the fiscal year 2011-2012 on February 14.
© AFP