Covid-19: US Treasury plans to borrow record $2.9 trn in April-June qtr

The United States Treasury Department said it plans to borrow $2.9 trillion during the April-June quarter to deal with the coronavirus pandemic. According to The Wall Street Journal, this is five times what the United States borrowed at the peak of the 2008 financial crisis.

During the April-June quarter, the US Treasury expects to borrow $2.9 trillion in privately-held net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-June cash balance of $800 billion, an official statement said on Monday.

The increase in privately-held net marketable borrowing is primarily driven by the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak, including expenditures from new legislation to assist individuals and businesses, changes to tax receipts, including the deferral of individual and business taxes from April-June until July, and an increase in the assumed end-of-June Treasury cash balance, it said.

The borrowing estimate is $3,055 billion higher than what was announced in February this year, the US Treasury said.

During the third quarter, Treasury expects to borrow $677 billion in privately-held net marketable debt, assuming an end-of-September cash balance of $800 billion, the statement said.

During the first quarter, Treasury borrowed $477 billion in privately-held net marketable debt and ended the quarter with a cash balance of $515 billion, it said.

In February, Treasury estimated privately-held net marketable borrowing of $367 billion and assumed an end-of-March cash balance of $400 billion, the statement said.

The $110 billion increase in borrowing resulted primarily from the higher end-of-quarter cash balance, it said.