Republicans have criticized President Obama for deficits that have skyrocketed since he took office. Much of the shortfall is from smaller tax returns, a result of high unemployment and falling incomes during the recession and a slow recovery.
The GOP has also criticized spending programs, notably the $787 billion stimulus package of 2009, that were backed by the White House and congressional Democrats for rising deficits.
The building of the US Treasury Department in
Washington DC
Washington’s 2011 budget deficit shows an increase of USD 0.01 trillion dollars from the US deficit in the fiscal year 2010, which stood at USD1.29 trillion, according to the Treasury Department data released on Friday, Bloomberg reported.
The new deficit figure marks the second-largest budget deficit in US history since 2009 when it stood at USD1.42 trillion.
“There is a lot of red ink on the government’s balance sheet and Congress appears clueless on how to make it disappear,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ in New York.
“It is going to be a long and painful process as the economy has slowed to the stall speed,” he added.
Unemployment in the US increased to 9.2 percent in July, which was up from 9.1 percent in June. US consumer confidence fell sharply in August and reached its lowest level since April 2009.
This comes as last month, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned in a report that the American economy would grow by just 1.5 percent in 2011 and by 1.8 percent in 2012, noting that it would remain weak for years to come.
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