Biggest Deficit, Ever

At least, until next year:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. government posted its largest budget gap in history in the just-ended 2003 fiscal year, $374.22 billion in red ink, the Treasury Department said on Monday.

That broke the previous record of more than $290 billion in the 1992 budget year. As a percentage of the economy, the deficit totaled 3.5 percent, the largest since 1993. In its final monthly budget statement for fiscal 2003, the Treasury also said the government posted a $26.38 billion surplus in September.

The deficit number that will be released next October will be over $500 billion.

AB