With only one month left in the fiscal year, the U.S. budget deficit moved further into record territory, passing the $400 billion mark for the first time, the Treasury Department said Wednesday.
A shortfall of $76.48 billion dollars last month, while a bit less than expected in financial markets, pushed the fiscal 2003 year-to-date budget gap up to $400.46 billion, a report from the Treasury said.
With the fiscal year drawing to a close at the end of this month, the August figure suggested the 2003 budget gap would handily outstrip the previous record of $290 billion set in 1992.
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U.S. fiscal fortunes have shifted sharply in recent years.
When President Bush took the reins at the White House in January 2001, budget analysts forecast annual surpluses well into the future.
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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A25072-2003Sep17.html