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U.S. Faces Record Borrowing Requirement - 147 Billion (for 3 months)
The federal government, running record budget deficits over the past two years, is projecting that it will have to borrow a record $147 billion in the first three months of 2005, the Treasury Department announced Monday. The department projected net borrowing needs of $100 billion for the current October-December quarter, less than the $122 billion it had earlier estimated would be needed to meet the government's obligations. Treasury said it is currently projecting net borrowing of $147 billion in the January-March quarter of next year, which would top the previous record net borrowing amount for a single quarter of $146 billion set in the January-March quarter of this year. In the recently completed July-September quarter, Treasury borrowed a net $89 billion and ended the quarter with a cash balance of $36 billion. For the current quarter, Treasury is projecting to end the three-month period with a cash balance of $25 billion. With the huge borrowing needs, the government is only $25 million below the national debt ceiling of $7.384 trillion. It has been using accounting maneuvers with the debt held in the government's trust funds to keep from going over the limit. The Republican-controlled Congress is planning to return for a special session later this month to raise the debt ceiling and finish work on a budget. [more]