New figures show that the US budget deficit swelled by more than $400 billion in the first two months of the 2009 financial year.
This was almost the record size of the previous year which ended on September 30, government data showed.
The federal deficit ballooned by a combined $401.57 billion in October and November, the Treasury Department reported. For all of fiscal 2008, the budget gap stood at $454.79 billion, the highest annual government deficit on record.
In November alone, the deficit widened 67.3% from the same month a year ago.
