The federal deficit rose to $607 billion through the first three quarters of fiscal 2018, the Congressional Budget Office reported Monday, $84 billion more than at the same point last year.
The CBO, Congress’ official, nonpartisan group of budget experts, has previously estimated that the deficit will clock in at $793 billion for the full year, which would be the largest shortfall since 2012.
And the experts expect the mismatch between government spending and revenues to continue growing indefinitely.
Monday’s report showed that federal revenues are growing, but not fast enough to keep pace with spending.
Through the first nine months of fiscal 2018, revenues grew 1 percent to $2.5 trillion. Individual taxes were up despite the implementation of the Trump tax cuts, while corporate tax revenues were down.
Spending, meanwhile, grew 4 percent to $3.1 trillion. Higher spending on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid helped drive the growth, as did greater outlays on interest on the debt.
The transfers required by the bailed-out government-sponsored enterprises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac earlier in the year also counted for higher spending.
