US deficit hits $1.4 trillion, largest hike since WWII

Press TV
Thursday, October 8, 2009

The US budget deficit spiked to $1.4 trillion in the fiscal year 2009, the biggest hike since the World War II, says a Congressional Budget Office report.

“The 2009 deficit was equal to 9.9 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), up from 3.2 percent in 2008, and was the highest shortfall – relative to the size of the economy – since 1945,” the CBO said in a statement on Wednesday, according to the Business Standard.

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The US deficit for the fiscal year 2008 was $459 billion.

Some experts blame the staggering shortfall primarily on the massive Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and the efforts to safeguard the fortunes of struggling mortgage lenders, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

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