U.S. budget gap grows to $957 billion

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NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The government said Friday the federal budget deficit for the first half of fiscal 2009 jumped to $956.8 billion, more than $500 billion above the gap for all of the prior fiscal year.

The Treasury Department said the federal budget deficit grew by $192.3 billion in March, according to the report released Friday.

Economists were expecting the budget deficit to grow by $160 billion in March, according to a consensus estimate compiled by Briefing.com.

In February, the government added $192.8 billion to the deficit. Last March, the government added $48.2 billion to the deficit.

The deficit for the year that began in October is 110% above the $454.8 billion gap in all of fiscal 2008.

The government has been spending at a record pace recently in an effort to pull the economy out of recession, jumpstart lending, and recapitalize the nation's financial system.

Overall, the government expects a budget deficit of $1.75 trillion for the full fiscal year.

Spending on the rise, even as income slows: The total outlays for March were $321.2 billion, an increase from $280.1 billion spent in February.

So far this fiscal year, the government has spent $1.95 trillion, a 33% increase over the $1.46 trillion spent by the same time last year.

The government expects to spend $3.94 trillion for the full year ending Sept. 30.

Even as the pace of spending has increased in an effort to extricate the economy from recession, the government is taking in less in taxes from both individuals and companies.

Total receipts for March were $129 billion, bringing the total amount that the government has taken in so far this year to $989.8 billion. That represents a 14% decline from the $1.1 trillion the government had collected by the same time last year.

The government collected $3.4 billion in corporate income taxes in March and $41.2 billion in individual income taxes.

So far in this fiscal year, the government has collected $56.2 billion in corporate taxes, a 57% plunge from the $129.5 billion taken in by the same time a year earlier. About $429.7 billion in individual income taxes has been collected, a 15% decline from $503.5 billion a year ago.

The government expects to take in total receipts of $2.2 trillion.