CBO Reports $259 Billion Deficit for First 4 Months of Fiscal Year

The United States borrowed $259 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2022, with a $119 billion surplus in January, according to the latest Monthly Budget Review from the Congressional Budget Office. The following is a statement from Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget:

Today’s deficit figures for the first third of the year should serve as a reminder that we should be working on getting our fiscal house in order. In the first four months of this fiscal year, we borrowed an average of $2 billion per day. While some of this borrowing was necessary to continue to fight the COVID-19 pandemic, it comes at a time when inflation is at a 40-year high, the economy has nearly recovered, and the national debt is set to reach new records as a share of the economy within the decade.  

Along with gross national debt surpassing $30 trillion for the first time last week and our trust funds running perilously close to insolvency, the warning bells are getting louder and louder.

It’s time for lawmakers to come together and put in place gradual changes that reduce spending, raise revenue, and otherwise put us on a better financial footing. They owe it not only to Americans today, but also to future generations.

###

For more information, please contact Kim McIntyre, Director of Media Relations, at mcintyre@crfb.org