Aug 12 (Reuters) - The U.S. federal budget deficit for July

jumped to $432 billion, a record for the month, as higher

outlays and more negative tariff revenues also brought the 2026

fiscal-year-to date budget gap to $1.799 trillion, topping the

full fiscal 2025 deficit with two months left in the fiscal

year, the U.S. Treasury said on Wednesday.

The budget gap for July, which was partly inflated by

calendar shifts in benefit payments, was $141 billion or 48%

higher than in July 2025 and was the largest monthly deficit

since March 2021, when it hit $660 billion due to COVID-19

relief programs.

A Treasury official said that unadjusted outlays for the

month also were a July record at $766 billion, up $137 billion

or 22% from a year ago. But the month's outlays were increased

by $99 billion due to the payment of many August 2026 benefits

in July because the current month started on a weekend.

Accounting for these and other shifts brought the adjusted

July deficit to $333 billion, up $50 billion or 18% from the

prior year, the Treasury said.

Unadjusted July receipts were down $4 billion or 1% to $334

billion. This included an $8.55 billion outflow of net customs

receipts after tariff refunds totaling $33.38 billion for the

month.

For the first 10 months of fiscal 2026, which began October

1, 2025, the unadjusted deficit totaled $1.799 trillion, up $170

billion, or 10% from the $1.629 trillion reported for the year-

ago period. The year-to-date deficit exceeded the full-year

fiscal 2025 deficit of $1.775 trillion with two months left in

the fiscal year.