WASHINGTON (AP) — The Treasury Department says it will need to borrow a record $2.99 trillion during the current April-June quarter to cover the cost of the government's various pandemic rescue efforts.
This quarter's borrowing will far surpass the Treasury's previous record, $569 billion in October-December 2008 when the government was dealing with the shock waves from that year's financial crisis.
This quarter's extraordinary sum also dwarfs the $1.28 trillion the government borrowed in the bond market for all of 2019.
Treasury said the borrowing is needed to fund the nearly $3 trillion the government has approved for supporting workers and businesses with direct economic payments, the Paycheck Protection Program and other efforts.
