The U.S. federal budget deficit was $1.4 trillion for this past fiscal year, which ended Sept. 30, according to estimates released on Oct. 11 by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
That figure is roughly half of the nearly $2.8 trillion deficit from the prior year, marking a roughly $1.4 trillion decline, CBO said.
According to the CBO, the decline was driven by a drop in spending related to the COVID-19 pandemic, such as stimulus checks and unemployment compensation. The deficit was $984 billion in the fiscal year 2019, before the pandemic upended the economy.
However, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said on Tuesday that up to 10 million low-income Americans—those with little to no income, who are not required to pay taxes—are still eligible for COVID-19 relief payments. They have until Nov. 15 to complete a simplified tax return in order to get them….