The US government announced that the budget deficit for 2020 rose by 218 percent, to a record high of $ 3.1 trillion in the fiscal year ending on September 30, due to the massive spending to combat the consequences of the Covid-19 pandemic.

This figure exceeds twice the previous record for deficit, which reached 1.4 trillion dollars in 2009 during the global financial crisis.

With enhanced spending and declining tax revenues due to business closures after the outbreak of COVID-19, the US Treasury Department said that total government debt rose to $ 26.9 trillion, more than the size of the economy, which shrank in the second quarter of the year to less than $ 20 trillion. .

The fiscal deficit under President Donald Trump was rising even before the pandemic crisis, and it reached a trillion dollars for the first time since 2012, following the massive tax cut approved in late 2017.

Administration officials defended the numbers in the budget, praising Trump for his swift action to provide subsidies to alleviate the economic repercussions for American companies and families.

"Under President Trump's leadership, the economy has started an amazing recovery," US Treasury Secretary Stephen Mnuchin and White House Budget Director Russell Vogt said in a joint statement.

"The administration remains fully committed to supporting American workers, families and companies, and to ensuring our continued robust economic recovery," Mnuchin added.

Over a period of weeks, Trump's team held talks with Democratic Party leaders in the US Congress about a new package of funds to support businesses and families, to be added to the nearly $ 3 trillion released at the start of the outbreak.

Officials stress that it will be difficult to reach an agreement before the presidential elections scheduled for the third of November, or the distribution of funds, even if there is an agreement.

Federal government spending rose 47 percent in the fiscal year to $ 6,500 billion.

Source: Agencies

By:Nadeemy Haded