According to the CBO’s latest monthly budget review, the federal budget deficit was $292 billion for the first two months of FY 2013, a 24% increase over the same time period last year.
The U.S. Treasury reported a deficit of $120 billion for October and $172 billion in November. The deficit in November is about $35 billion (or roughly 26%) more than last November’s deficit.
The CBO noted that for the first 2 months of FY 2013, revenues rose by $30 billion, but outlays increased by $87 billion, indicating an ongoing steady increase in spending. Most of the gains in revenues came from increases in net receipts from individual and payroll taxes which were up 8%.
However, expenditures for each of the three main entitlement programs were higher than the same period last year accounting for the growing increase in spending. Social Security benefits increased the most; expenditures for it are up $8 billion or 7%; Medicare rose $6 billion or 8%, and Medicaid rose $4 billion or 9%.
A recent GAO report stated that the federal government is on an unsustainable long-term fiscal path, due primarily to the entitlement programs cited in the CBO’s monthly report.
