Fiscal 2003 Deficit Has Hit $193.9 Billion
The government ran up a deficit of $193.9 billion in the first five months of the 2003 budget year, nearly three times the deficit for the same period a year earlier.</br></br>The latest figures, released yesterday by the Treasury Department, highlighted the deteriorating federal fiscal situation. Record deficits are forecast this year and next.</br></br>The total so far this fiscal year, from October through February, compares with $67.7 billion a year earlier.</br></br>Revenues were down by 8.2 percent, to $704.8 billion, for the five months. That partly reflected lower tax revenue from the sagging economy.</br></br>Individual income tax payments totaled $331.5 billion, an 11.4 percent drop from the previous year. Corporate tax payments plunged to nearly $33 billion, compared with $63 billion.