US Treasury reports $380 billion August budget deficit

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Treasury on Thursday reported a $380 billion federal budget deficit for August, a massive shift from the $89 billion surplus in August 2023 that resulted from the reversal of President Joe Biden’s student loan forgiveness program.

The deficit for the first 11 months of the 2024 fiscal year reached $1.897 trillion, a 24% increase from a gap of $1.525 trillion in the year-ago period, as the current year’s interest costs on public debt topped $1 trillion for the first time, a Treasury official said.

(Reporting by David Lawder; Editing by Paul Simao)