The U.S. Capitol building through a reflection in Washington, D.C., on September 29, 2023.
The U.S. budget deficit widened in the four months through January, as debt-servicing costs climbed further.
The deficit for the first four months of the 2024 fiscal year reached $532 billion, or 16 percent more than recorded in the same period in the prior year, Treasury Department data released Monday showed. Interest costs in the four months through January were $357 billion, a 37 percent jump from 2023.
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The Federal Reserve's aggressive interest-rate hiking campaign has made debt more expensive, increasing the burden for the U.S. budget. The weighted average interest rate on outstanding U.S. interest-bearing government debt was 3.15 percent at the end of January—the highest since May 2010 and marking a roughly 70 basis point increase from a year before.
For the month of January, the deficit was smaller than a year ago—mainly due to higher receipts. The pickup in receipts in part reflected smaller payments last month for a pandemic-era program compared to 2023, Treasury officials said.
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