US government needs record borrowing in second quarter of 2009

Editorial Note: The following news reports are summaries from original sources. They may also include corrections of Arabic names and political terminology. Comments are in parentheses.

2009-04-28 05:32:02

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Xinhua) --

The U.S. government will have to borrow 361 billion dollars in the second quarter this year, a record amount for the April-June period, the Treasury Department announced on Monday.

It is the third consecutive quarter the government's borrowing needs have set records for those periods.

And the estimate for borrowing in the current quarter was much larger than borrowing needs of just 13 billion dollars in the year-ago period.

During the July-September quarter, the government will need to borrow 515 billion dollars, down slightly from the year-earlier level of 530 billion dollars, the Treasury also estimated.

The government borrowed 481 billion dollars in the first quarter this year.

The huge borrowing needs reflect the soaring costs of the government's economic stimulus package and financial rescue program, and the recession that has resulted in a sharp decline in tax revenue.

The recession, which started in December 2007, also has boosted government spending for benefit programs such as unemployment insurance and food stamps.

"It will take time for the stimulus and credit market programs to have a meaningful impact and they will not come without significant costs in the short term," the Treasury said in a statement.

The federal budget deficit is expected to rise to 1.75 trillion dollars in fiscal year 2009, which ends on Sept. 30 this year, from the previous record of 454.8 billion dollars set in fiscal year 2008, it said, quoting estimates by the Office of Management and Budget.

To cover the government's borrowing needs, U.S. Congress boosted the limit for the national debt to 12.1 trillion dollars in February this year. The national debt now stands at 11.1 trillion dollars.

Editor: Mu Xuequan

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