Although the final accounting for the fiscal year is yet to be tallied, Treasury data indicate that the federal budget deficit was probably equal to about 2-1/2 percent of GDP--below its level of about 3-1/2 percent of GDP in the preceding two years.
That said, the budget figures for the fiscal year just ended were little affected by the fiscal policy response to the recent hurricanes. Only a small portion of the emergency federal outlays budgeted for hurricane relief were actually spent in September, the last month of the fiscal year.