“It does not do to leave a live dragon out of your calculations, if you live near one.” -J.R.R. Tolkien
Net interest paid by the US government, debt service on borrowing for government programs, including international interventions and agendas, was the third-largest budget item last month — higher than spending on health care, defense, income security, and veterans’ benefits.
The U.S. government budget deficit totaled $347 billion in May, up from a $240 billion deficit in the same month a year earlier, according to the latest Monthly Treasury Statement data. This surpassed the consensus estimate of $250 billion.
Eight months into the 2024 fiscal year, the fiscal year-to-date federal shortfall totals $1.202 trillion, compared with a deficit of $1.695 trillion in the entire fiscal year of 2023.
In May, outlays rose 22 percent to $670 billion, while revenue climbed 5 percent to $323 billion. Medicare, at $142 billion, and Social Security, at $123 billion, were the top outlays in the month. On a fiscal year-to-date basis, Social Security costs reached $960 billion and Medicare outlays have been $607 billion.
Net interest was the third-largest budget item last month, exceeding defense spending. It totaled $87 billion in May and $601 billion in the first eight months of the current fiscal year, higher than spending on health care, defense, income security, and veterans’ benefits.
Officials warn that spending this year will be “greater than previously projected” — due to “administrative actions associated with student loans and from legislation providing international assistance.”
Annualized interest payments have already surpassed $1 trillion.
Andrew Moran
June 13, 2024
