The US Treasury Department building in Washington, DC, USA on Tuesday, August 15, 2023.
Nathan Howard | Bloomberg | Getty Images
The U.S. budget deficit ballooned in November, making fiscal year 2025 already moving at a much faster pace than a year ago when the deficit topped $1.8 trillion, the Treasury Department reported Wednesday.
During the month, the deficit totaled $366.8 billion, up 17% from November 2023, making the total deficit for the first two months of the fiscal year more than 64% higher than the same period last year on an unadjusted basis.
This increase came despite revenues reaching $301.8 billion, an increase of about $27 billion over last November. Total expenditures were $668.5 billion, or nearly $80 billion more than last year.
The surge in red ink has pushed the national debt to $36.1 trillion as the month comes to a close.
On an adjusted basis, the deficit reached $286 billion and totaled $544 billion so far, an increase of 19%.
Although the Fed has cut interest rates twice since September by a total of three-quarters of a percentage point, interest expenses remain a significant contributor to the deficit. Net interest expense was $79 billion in the month, and now stands at $160 billion for the fiscal year, exceeding all other expenses except Social Security, Medicare, Defense, and Medicare.
The Treasury expects to pay $1.2 trillion this year in total interest on the debt.
