The U.S. budget deficit passed the $2 trillion mark in May amid a continuing flow of fiscal largesse to a rapidly expanding economy, the Treasury Department reported Thursday.
Government red ink for the month was just below $132 billion, the lowest monthly shortfall of the year but still enough to put the total deficit at $2.063 trillion.
Tax receipts for the month totaled $463.7 billion, the largest influx since July 2020. Spending came to $595.7 billion, the lowest since February.
With four months left to go for the fiscal year, the government is on pace to come close to 2020′s record $3.13 trillion deficit.
Federal government debt now stands at $28.2 trillion. In the current fiscal year, taxpayers have shelled out $319.9 billion in interest expense on all that debt after paying $522.8 billion in 2020.
Congress already has allocated more than $5 trillion in stimulus to help the economy through the Covid-19 pandemic. Legislators are debating an infrastructure bill that could be in the trillions as well, though congressional Republicans have balked at some of President Joe Biden’s spending plans.
