US runs budget deficit in April for first time since 1983

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The US federal government ran a deficit in April for the first time in 26 years, pushing the red ink so far this budget year to a record US$802.3 billion. The Treasury Department says the deficit for April was $20.9 billion, a sharp contrast to a year ago when the government ran a surplus of $159.3 billion. For the budget year that began Oct. 1, the deficit totals $802.3 billion, putting the country well on track to register the first $1 trillion annual deficit in US history. The Obama administration on Monday raised its deficit estimate for the year to $1.84 trillion, from the $1.75 trillion deficit it estimated less than two months ago.