US plans to borrow $425 bn in Q4: Treasury

The US Treasury Department announced its plans to borrow $425 billion of privately-held net marketable debt in the fourth quarter of 2018.

The estimated borrowing for the fourth quarter in 2018, which stands at $15 billion, is lower than the Treasury's estimation three months ago, driven by changes in cash balance assumptions, the Department said on Monday.

The Treasury also expects to borrow $356 billion in privately-held net marketable debt during the first quarter next year, assuming a closing cash balance of $320 billion at the end of March in 2019, reports Xinhua news agency.

The Department will release additional financing details relating to Treasury's Quarterly Refunding on Wednesday.

According to the Treasury Department, the US government's borrowing in 2018 could reach nearly $1.34 trillion, which is more than twice of the amount of the previous year as President Donald Trump's administration's budget deficit keep rising.

A newly-released report by the Treasury Department showed US budget deficit rose to $779 billion in the fiscal year 2018 ending September 30, the highest since 2012, due to tax cut and increased government spending.

Government spending grew by 3.2 per cent from the previous fiscal year, while government receipts only rose by 0.4 per cent.

The budget deficit as a share of GDP rose to 3.9 per cent, up from 3.5 per cent in the previous fiscal year, the report said.

The Trump administration's tax cut is expected to add $1.46 trillion to federal government deficits over the next 10 years, according to an estimate by the Congress's Joint Committee on Taxation.

--IANS

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