US budget deficit narrows in June as pandemic payments drop: government

[WASHINGTON] The US budget gap shrank in June compared to the record levels in 2020 when the government paid out a massive amount of pandemic aid, according to official data released on Tuesday.

Compared to June of last year, the government deficit fell by 80 per cent to just US$174 billion last month, the Treasury Department said, as the world's largest economy reopens at a rapid pace and public aid winds down.

Outlays a year ago during the height of the Covid-19 crisis included US$511 billion for the Small Business Administration, which administered the government's program of loans and grants to keep companies afloat during the pandemic. That amount fell to just US$31 billion this year.

For the first nine months of the fiscal year, the deficit dipped to just over US$2.2 trillion from the record US$2.74 trillion in the same period of the prior year, Treasury said, a decline of 18 per cent.

Overall, government receipts and outlays hit records for the October 2020 to June 2021 period, according to the data, as business taxes recovered even as the government passed another expensive stimulus package.

AFP

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