Deficit at Record $203 Billion With Month to Go

The federal government’s budget deficit hit a record $203.4 billion in August with one month still to go in the current fiscal year, the Treasury Department said Wednesday. But officials said the final deficit figure should be slightly lower because of an expected surplus in September.

The Reagan Administration is predicting that the deficit for the full fiscal year, which ends Monday, will total $201.3 billion.

Treasury Department analyst Richard Smith said the government is expected to have a surplus of about $2 billion in September, bringing the yearly total back in line with the estimate.

The previous deficit record was $195.4 billion, set in fiscal 1983. Last year’s deficit was $175.3 billion.

Higher Than in July

For August, the deficit totaled $27.8 billion, almost 40% higher than the $20-billion deficit posted for July.

The record flow of red ink means that the government has had to borrow heavily to pay its bills. The Administration has a request pending before Congress to raise the national debt limit above $2 trillion.

Officials said that, unless Congress grants the request, the Treasury will run out of cash by Oct. 15. The current debt limit is $1.824 trillion.

Government revenue for August totaled $55.78 billion, and spending totaled $83.62 billion.

As usual, the top three spending categories were Health and Human Services Department expenditures, military outlays and interest payments on the debt.

Department Budget Up

The HHS budget, which includes funding for such huge programs as Social Security, totaled $27.11 billion in August and $290.46 billion for the first 11 months of the fiscal year, up 2% from the same period in 1984.

Military spending totaled $22.58 billion in August and $223.04 billion for the first 11 months, a jump of 10.1% over 1984.

By far, the fastest growing major budget category has been interest payments on the national debt. Those payments totaled $13.69 billion in August and $165.74 billion for the fiscal year, a 17.1% increase from the same period in 1984.

Revenues in August included $25.77 billion in personal income tax payments, $1.08 billion in corporate income taxes and $18.62 billion in Social Security contributions.