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U.S. Treasury Seeks To Borrow Record $2.9 Trillion In Second Quarter

​The Treasury said the huge sum is needed to fund the various federal relief efforts taken to help the economy through the coronavirus pandemic.
Posted at 9:15 PM, May 04, 2020

The Treasury Department said Monday it expects to borrow a record $2.999 trillion during the current April-June fiscal quarter.

The Treasury said in a statement Monday the huge sum is needed to fund the various federal relief efforts taken to help the economy through the coronavirus pandemic. It also said the borrowing is needed to cover expected shortages in revenue due to this year's tax deadline being pushed back from April to July.

For perspective, the nearly $3 trillion amount is more than five times larger than the previous single-quarter-borrowing record set during the 2008 financial crisis. It's also more than double what the government borrowed for all of last year.

The Treasury also said it expects to borrow an additional $677 billion during the upcoming July-September quarter.