The U.S. spent $284 billion more than it took in during the first month of its new fiscal year, a budget hole 111 percent bigger than a year earlier, government data shows.
Spending climbed 37 percent to $522 billion for the month as spending rose in health care and for bailout and safety-net programs related to pulling the economy out of the shutdown.
The federal health and human services department spent 50 percent more last month than a year before, including a 76-percent rise in Medicare spending and 20 percent on Medicaid, the health care program for low-income individuals.
The treasury closed the budget year ending 30 September with a $3.3-trillion deficit, equal to about 15.5 percent of GDP.
TREND FORECAST: The country is still down some 10 million jobs. Economic growth will not rebound, thus the government will inject more stimulus to pump it up. Therefore, the more cheap money injected into the system, the further the value of the dollar will fall and the higher gold prices will rise.
It should be noted that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) reported yesterday that governments have announced nearly $12 trillion in stimulus measures as of September, and central banks have chipped in at least $7.5 trillion to pump up economies.
Sinking into the “Greatest Depression,” IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said, “Countries now face a long ascent that will be difficult, uneven, uncertain and prone to setbacks.”
