Treasury says it has scaled back government’s borrowing capacity by $232 billion since April

Treasury says scaling back borrowing capacity

WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department says that it has scaled back its annual borrowing capacity by $232 billion since April and plans further gradual cuts in coming months.

The cuts are coming after a massive expansion of the government’s borrowing over the past two years as the annual federal deficit hit $1.41 trillion last year and is forecast to hit a new record of $1.47 trillion this year.

Treasury officials said that the reductions in borrowing capacity can be achieved because the improving economy is boosting tax receipts and many of the emergency programs enacted to deal with the deep recession and financial crisis are being phased out.