The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) announced Friday that it is estimating that the federal budget deficit totaled $383 billion in October and November 2023, the first two months of fiscal year 2024.
The office said that amount is $47 billion more than the deficit recorded during the same period last fiscal year.
Although revenues this year were $108 billion, or 19% higher, the office said outlays rose by $155 billion or 17% more.
Outlays in both years were affected by shifts in the timing of certain federal payments that otherwise would have been due on Oct. 1, which fell on a weekend, according to CBO.
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According to the data, spending in October 2023 was up $64 billion compared to last year with net interest spending being the main driver, increasing by $33 billion compared to the previous October.
A chart outlines the details showing that spending in two areas increased substantially — The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation and interest on public debt.
The outlays of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) rose by $63 billion as a result of facilitating the resolution of bank failures that occurred in 2023. The FDIC expects to recover much of that amount by continuing to liquidate the banks’ assets and by collecting higher premiums from FDIC-insured institutions over the next several years.
The data showed that net outlays for interest on the public debt were substantially higher, increasing by $60 billion or 65%, primarily because interest rates are significantly higher than they were in the first two months of fiscal year 2023.
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Other categories that increased significantly were social security and defense.
Revenues in October 2023 were also $85 billion above collections from a year ago, driven by deferred payments of individual and corporate income taxes for taxpayers in locations that suffered natural disasters.
The Treasury Department reported a deficit of $67 billion for October — $2 billion more than CBO estimated last month.
