The federal budget deficit was $724 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2023, CBO estimates—$248 billion more than the shortfall recorded during the same period last year.
The federal budget deficit was $724 billion in the first five months of fiscal year 2023, the Congressional Budget Office estimates—$248 billion more than the shortfall recorded during the same period last year. Outlays were 8 percent higher and revenues were 4 percent lower from October through February than during the same period in fiscal year 2022.
Outlays in fiscal year 2023 were reduced by the shifting of certain payments—totaling $63 billion—from October 1, 2022 (the first day of fiscal year 2023), into fiscal year 2022 because October 1 fell on a weekend. If not for those shifts, the deficit would have been $787 billion, $311 billion greater than the shortfall during the same period in fiscal year 2022.