By Staff, Agencies 

The US reported a record $738 billion budget deficit in April, as Congress rushes to relieve businesses that have been severely impacted due to coronavirus lockdowns across the country. 

The Treasury Department said that last month’s budget deficit was the first to reflect the large-scale of government spending that has been approved in order to soften the economic blow of coronavirus. 

When asked about the monthly figure, a senior US Treasury official told reporters “They really are striking numbers that I didn’t think I would ever see,” Reuters cited.

A $2.3 trillion coronavirus relief bill was approved by US Congress in late March, and has since been added to, bringing the total amount of the rescue package to approximately $3 trillion.

The coronavirus lockdown wiped out 20.5 million US jobs in April, destroying nearly all the positions created in the prior decade in the world's largest economy, according to the Labor Department.