WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government posted a $226 billion budget deficit in April, a drop of $512 billion or 69% from the gap in April 2020, the first full month of COVID-19 lockdowns, as pandemic-related outlays fell and revenues rose sharply.
The Treasury Department said that the deficit for the first seven months of fiscal 2021 still hit a new record of $1.932 trillion, a 30% increase from the same period of fiscal 2020.
April receipts rose 82% from a year earlier to $439 billion, but the increase is partly due to last year’s deferral of income tax payments to July. The Treasury deferred tax payments this year by only one month, until May 17, with no deferral for corporate taxes.
April outlays were $665 billion, a decrease of 32% from April 2020, as that month contained the bulk of payments to individuals in the first round of coronavirus rescue aid. Payments under President Joe Biden’s stimulus plan this year were mainly sent in March.
Year-to-date receipts for fiscal 2021 totaled $2.143 trillion, up 16% from the year-ago period, while year-to-date outlays totaled $4.075 trillion, up 22%.
(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Andrea Ricci)
