Reuters
December 23, 2011

The U.S. government fell deeper into the red in fiscal 2011 with net liabilities swelling more than $1 trillion as commitments on government debt and federal benefits rose, a U.S. Treasury report showed on Friday.

The Financial Report of the United States, which applies corporate-style accrual accounting methods to Washington, showed the government’s liabilities exceeded assets by $14.785 trillion. That compared with a $13.473 trillion gap a year earlier.

However, the government’s net operating cost, or deficit, in the report dropped to $1.313 trillion for the year ended September 30 from $2.080 trillion the prior year, largely reflecting a drop in expected future payments under government pension programs.

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