WASHINGTON, March 13 — The Treasury Department's Bureau of the Fiscal Service released its monthly budget statement on Tuesday, showing the US budget deficit widened significantly in February.
The statement said the budget deficit widened to US$296.3 billion in February from US$21.9 billion in January. Economists had expected the deficit to widen to US$298 billion.
The substantially wider budget deficit largely reflected a steep drop in receipts, which plummeted by 43.2 per cent to US$271.1 billion in February from US$477.4 billion in January.
Meanwhile, the statement said outlays surged by 13.7 per cent to US$567.4 billion in February from US$499.3 billion in January.
— Bernama
