US Records Largest Budget Deficit in 7 Yrs

The US budget posted the largest annual deficit in 7 years, with a smaller than expected surplus last month.

In 2019, the US budget deficit rose by 26 percent to $ 984.38 billion, compared with a deficit of $ 778.99 billion in the previous fiscal year.

Analysts had expected that the US budget to post a surplus of $ 83.5 billion last month, however, US Treasury data showed on Friday that the US budget recorded a surplus of $ 82.76 billion in September, compared with a surplus of $ 119.11 billion in the same period last year.

Government revenues rose to $ 374.02 billion last month, compared with $ 343.56 billion in the same period last year.

US expenditures rose to $ 291.26 billion in September from $ 224.44 billion in the same period last year.

The dollar index, which tracks the performance of the currency against six major currencies, was up 0.2 percent to 97.866.