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report
February 7, 2012
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Based on the Monthly Treasury Statement for December and the Daily Treasury Statements for January
The federal government accumulated a budget deficit of $349 billion in the first four months of fiscal year 2012, CBO estimates, $70 billion less than the shortfall recorded for the same period last year. Without shifts in the timing of certain payments, however, the deficit would
have been only $39 billion smaller than the shortfall for the same period last year. If lawmakers enact no further legislation affecting spending or revenues, the federal government will end fiscal year 2012 with a deficit of nearly $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, compared with
$1.3 trillion in 2011. However, enactment of proposals such as pending legislation to extend the payroll tax cut could have a significant impact on the deficit for 2012. (For more details about CBO’s most recent budget projections, see The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012 to 2022.)