US Posts 19th Straight Monthly Budget Deficit

The U.S.government has posted 19 consecutive monthly budget deficits, the longest string of shortfalls on record.

The U.S. government has posted the 19th straight monthly budget deficits of 82.7 billion U.S. dollars, the largest on record for that month, the Treasury Department said on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The deficits in April, the seventh month of 2010 fiscal year, nearly four times the 20 billion U.S. dollars shortfall registered in April 2009, beating expectations of 30 billion dollars.

The total shortfall in the first seven months in 2010 fiscal year reached 797.7 billion U.S. dollars, lower than 802.3 billion in the same period of last year.

The U.S. federal budget deficit hit a record high of 1.4 trillion U.S. dollars in 2009, or 10 percent of GDP.

The shortfall in the fiscal year of 2010, estimated by Obama's administration, would climb to 1.56 trillion U.S. dollars.