The US budget deficit grew in the October to December period, with an uptick in areas like tax receipts outweighed by spending including higher interest on the public debt, Treasury Department data showed Thursday.
The deficit in the first three months of the government’s fiscal year widened by 21 percent to $510 billion, up from $421 billion in the same period a year ago.
The US government’s national debt has now exceeded $34 trillion.
Budget receipts increased over the window, helped by the collection of individual and corporate taxes, said the Treasury Department.
This came as pandemic-related deferred taxes for parts of the country came due, a Treasury official told reporters in a call.
But spending grew by a larger amount, with interest on the public debt up by $78 billion in the three-month period, compared with the prior year.
Overall, outlays under the Treasury were up $54 billion.
Other areas where spending increased for the quarter were in military programs and under the Social Security Administration, Treasury data showed.
Over the latest quarter, spending totaled $1.6 trillion.
Spending fell in other areas including agriculture, driven by the end of emergency spending mainly for food benefits to low-income families.
