The Treasury Department predicted in a report Monday that the government’s borrowing needs for the second half of 2018 will be $769 billion — the highest its borrowed since 2008 during the financial crisis.
Bloomberg reports that Treasury foresees issuing $329 billion in net marketable debt between July and the end of September, and another $440 billion between October and the end of the year. The total $769 billion comes in at the highest borrowing estimate since $1.1 trillion between July and December of 2008 in the middle of the financial crisis.
The net marketable debt the Treasury expects to issue from July through September is also the fourth-largest total for that quarter and far higher than was estimated earlier this year. {mosads}
Treasury estimated in April that the annual deficit would boom this year, rising to $833 billion from roughly $665 billion in 2017. The cumulative deficit for the fiscal year is already $41 billion higher than at the same point last year, according to the report.
The Trump administration argues that the strong economy will soon boost government revenue and reduce the deficit.
The Treasury Department’s report comes after the Commerce Department reported on Friday that the U.S. economy expanded at a 4.1 percent rate in the April-to-June quarter, the highest level since growth hit 5.2 percent in the third quarter of 2014.
President Trump has frequently touted the economy, saying at the White House on Friday that the country is growing “at the amazing rate” and that “we’re on track to hit the highest annual average growth rate in over 13 years.”