The federal budget deficit was $727 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2022, CBO estimates—$1.8 trillion less than it was at the same point last year.
The federal budget deficit was $727 billion in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2022 (that is, from October 2021 through July 2022), the Congressional Budget Office estimates—$1.8 trillion less than it was at the same point last year.
Revenues were $789 billion (or 24 percent) higher and outlays were $1.0 trillion (or 17 percent) lower than they were during the same period a year ago. In particular, spending related to the coronavirus pandemic declined for the recovery rebates (also known as economic impact payments), unemployment compensation, pandemic relief through the Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Coronavirus Relief Fund.
On the basis of its estimate of the deficit through July and outlays and revenues anticipated for August and September, CBO expects that the total deficit for 2022 will be close to the $1.0 trillion estimate published in CBO’s May report on the budget outlook. That amount reflects a shift of $64 billion in payments from October (fiscal year 2023) into September (fiscal year 2022), because the payments are due on October 1, which falls on a weekend. That deficit projection does not include any costs for a possible executive action involving the forgiveness of student loans.
Corrections and Updates
On August 25, 2022, CBO reposted this report to corrrect a typographical error on page 7; no other part of the report was affected.
