US budget deficit totals $76.9 billion in July

WASHINGTON – The federal government recorded a $76.9 billion deficit in July, with increased government spending and tax cuts keeping the country on track to record its biggest annual deficit in six years.

The Treasury Department reports that in the first 10 months of this budget year, the deficit totalled $684 billion, up 20.8 per cent from the same period last year.

Revenues are up only 1 per cent this year with the increase held back by a big drop in corporate tax payments. Spending is up 4.4 per cent, reflecting a big boost Congress approved earlier this year for domestic and military programs and rising costs to finance the debt.

The Trump administration last month sharply revised upward its deficit estimates, projecting annual deficits will once again top $1 trillion next year.