Budget Deficit Hits Record $216 Billion
The federal budget deficit rose 25.6% in August, pushing the red-ink total for the first 11 months of the 1986 fiscal year to a record $216.96 billion, the Treasury Department said Tuesday.
With one month left in the budget year, officials said the deficit has surpassed the previous record of $211.93 billion set last year.
The monthly deficit for August was $27.91 billion, compared to a $22.22-billion imbalance in July.
The Reagan Administration estimated last month that the deficit will reach $230 billion by Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year.
The Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law calls for the fiscal 1987 imbalance to be reduced to $144 billion. Congress is struggling to enact enough budget reductions to escape across-the-board spending cuts that otherwise would be required by the law.
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