500metrics

Debt limit · 2009, Daily Treasury Statement, Table IIIC

How close did US debt come to its ceiling in 2009?

In 2009, through , room under the debt limit was lowest on , at $24.50 billion.

Room left under the debt limit, each statement day of 2009

252 statements, to Lowest on

Room left under the debt limit, each statement day, 2 January 2009 to 31 December 2009

Debt subject to the limit and the statutory limit, each statement day of 2009

252 statements, to Lowest on

Debt subject to the limit and the statutory limit, each statement day, 2 January 2009 to 31 December 2009, Room under the limit shaded

The tinted band is the room between the debt subject to the limit and the statutory limit (U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data, Daily Treasury Statement, Debt Subject to Limit): debt $12.25T, limit $12.39T, room $139.47B on .

The linesLatest:

  • Debt subject to the limit$12.25T
  • Statutory limit$12.39T

Treasury's cash balance at the close of each statement day of 2009

252 statements, to Lowest on

Treasury's cash balance at the close of each statement day, 2 January 2009 to 31 December 2009

Each point is one Daily Treasury Statement; pointing at the chart shows its date and figures. A gap is a day the limit was suspended.

Select a line to followLatest:

Inspect and compare dates

The year's last statement beside the day room left was lowest and the year's first statement. Every statement day of 2009 is in the table under "The numbers behind the chart".

MeasureLast statementLowest roomFirst statement
Statement day
Subject to the limit12,254,53112,079,50510,568,469
Statutory limit12,394,00012,104,00011,315,000
Room left139,46924,495746,531
Cash balance186,632132,27357,303

Observed .

In 2009

Room left fell from $746.53 billion on to $139.47 billion on .

Room left stayed above $1 billion on every statement day of the year.

Every year, side by side

The limit

From , the limit was $12.10 trillion, up from $11.31 trillion.

From , the limit was $12.39 trillion, up from $12.10 trillion.

The limit in force today

Understanding near the limit

Where it stands today

Room left was under $1 billion on 0 statement days of 2009; the lowest was $24.50 billion, on .

What counts as near the limit?

A statement day counts as near the limit when room left is under $1 billion: under extraordinary measures Treasury keeps a small room, never exactly zero.

The numbers behind the chart

What did each statement day of 2009 say?252 days, newest first, $ million
Each Daily Treasury Statement of 2009 ($ million)
DateSubject to the limitLimitRoom leftCash balance
12,254,53112,394,000139,469186,632
12,089,53012,394,000304,470149,819
12,044,83812,394,000349,162116,251
12,049,04312,394,000344,957115,209
12,045,80512,104,00058,195112,096
12,047,14112,104,00056,859119,439
12,039,59212,104,00064,40890,674
12,043,74512,104,00060,25593,949
12,042,43312,104,00061,56790,467
12,042,13112,104,00061,86989,194
12,073,62712,104,00030,373132,157
12,079,50512,104,00024,495132,273
Show 240 more rows
DateSubject to the limitLimitRoom leftCash balance
12,015,79812,104,00088,20243,117
12,026,17112,104,00077,82956,450
12,037,11612,104,00066,88460,289
12,024,19312,104,00079,80755,364
12,035,72912,104,00068,27118,152
12,030,58912,104,00073,41125,455
12,031,80412,104,00072,19630,198
12,031,70312,104,00072,29732,987
12,035,17812,104,00068,82260,164
12,033,56012,104,00070,44061,595
12,057,36212,104,00046,63899,236
11,951,93612,104,000152,06411,236
11,952,72812,104,000151,27212,997
11,959,57612,104,000144,42421,326
11,955,07512,104,000148,92528,401
11,953,74112,104,000150,25928,565
11,954,94712,104,000149,05332,910
11,973,46112,104,000130,53962,309
11,982,55612,104,000121,44470,910
11,974,51612,104,000129,48478,914
11,934,66312,104,000169,33751,774
11,934,35612,104,000169,64463,985
11,930,07812,104,000173,92262,930
11,933,12812,104,000170,87278,511
11,931,92412,104,000172,07678,517
11,933,58512,104,000170,41582,539
11,921,98812,104,000182,01281,576
11,922,19212,104,000181,80879,922
11,918,90412,104,000185,096107,219
11,836,92012,104,000267,08019,721
11,813,37412,104,000290,62618,699
11,838,60012,104,000265,40030,563
11,846,34112,104,000257,65940,218
11,842,47612,104,000261,52446,751
11,840,71712,104,000263,28346,021
11,841,61512,104,000262,38547,090
11,893,37612,104,000210,62473,730
11,901,48112,104,000202,51977,591
11,897,48512,104,000206,51583,585
11,893,52712,104,000210,47386,575
11,891,48512,104,000212,51589,598
11,848,37712,104,000255,62315,570
11,852,37412,104,000251,62629,392
11,840,47112,104,000263,52922,843
11,843,60212,104,000260,39825,880
11,870,37512,104,000233,62531,005
11,872,06612,104,000231,93430,806
11,863,59112,104,000240,40939,090
11,861,56512,104,000242,43541,435
11,864,11212,104,000239,88865,850
11,853,43512,104,000250,565108,324
11,719,10612,104,000384,89422,526
11,714,42012,104,000389,58025,031
11,713,59412,104,000390,40625,698
11,713,55212,104,000390,44832,392
11,756,71512,104,000347,28550,907
11,762,59712,104,000341,40359,623
11,754,02712,104,000349,97356,673
11,750,53112,104,000353,46951,868
11,752,07812,104,000351,92250,301
11,770,82012,104,000333,18072,399
11,777,01912,104,000326,98171,086
11,735,41712,104,000368,5838,509
11,737,41812,104,000366,5825,467
11,737,74312,104,000366,2579,030
11,727,23612,104,000376,7644,500
11,730,20512,104,000373,79515,057
11,727,70912,104,000376,29118,389
11,729,50112,104,000374,49924,470
11,739,93112,104,000364,06958,716
11,735,28012,104,000368,72059,286
11,755,20612,104,000348,79493,333
11,660,28612,104,000443,7148,802
11,666,97812,104,000437,02211,325
11,658,21612,104,000445,78412,828
11,672,02612,104,000431,97421,581
11,660,85412,104,000443,14627,384
11,660,97012,104,000443,03028,875
11,662,51312,104,000441,48735,497
11,659,95512,104,000444,04540,294
11,668,29112,104,000435,70947,222
11,624,34812,104,000479,65218,195
11,611,50412,104,000492,49625,024
11,604,52512,104,000499,47527,588
11,599,93712,104,000504,06335,758
11,608,20312,104,000495,79742,762
11,603,63712,104,000500,36350,313
11,599,82012,104,000504,18051,152
11,601,72212,104,000502,27855,229
11,600,70412,104,000503,29661,522
11,601,24312,104,000502,75761,277
11,590,11912,104,000513,88168,352
11,611,15212,104,000492,84892,971
11,523,48212,104,000580,51825,620
11,553,67012,104,000550,33057,825
11,555,13012,104,000548,87057,117
11,550,18012,104,000553,82064,369
11,548,83312,104,000555,16761,259
11,547,79712,104,000556,20366,755
11,537,81912,104,000566,18161,601
11,546,65812,104,000557,34268,982
11,543,53412,104,000560,46675,263
11,542,66512,104,000561,33575,631
11,540,56512,104,000563,43579,576
11,521,62012,104,000582,38065,234
11,471,15312,104,000632,84717,168
11,467,52612,104,000636,47419,505
11,466,65212,104,000637,34819,764
11,468,32012,104,000635,68023,816
11,457,11612,104,000646,88436,910
11,465,86612,104,000638,13445,032
11,462,56412,104,000641,43655,624
11,433,54112,104,000670,45925,507
11,431,59112,104,000672,40925,310
11,460,69812,104,000643,30278,142
11,487,47012,104,000616,530115,984
11,297,77712,104,000806,22362,749
11,301,76412,104,000802,23659,126
11,302,76912,104,000801,23169,679
11,304,94612,104,000799,05478,847
11,347,23612,104,000756,764125,828
11,339,88712,104,000764,113131,710
11,336,84612,104,000767,154124,083
11,338,36012,104,000765,640122,059
11,341,89912,104,000762,101132,837
11,345,11012,104,000758,89068,732
11,339,79012,104,000764,21061,947
11,313,92312,104,000790,0777,384
11,314,56412,104,000789,43610,128
11,322,97412,104,000781,02617,166
11,330,41412,104,000773,58627,783
11,329,17712,104,000774,82334,799
11,326,77012,104,000777,23034,050
11,327,79212,104,000776,20837,842
11,313,21312,104,000790,78737,634
11,321,65112,104,000782,34959,989
11,318,84512,104,000785,15564,855
11,260,44412,104,000843,55615,222
11,251,85212,104,000852,14819,867
11,241,32612,104,000862,67411,048
11,245,77012,104,000858,23028,611
11,241,71412,104,000862,28627,478
11,245,67712,104,000858,32337,277
11,225,50212,104,000878,49837,929
11,233,36112,104,000870,63946,139
11,226,56312,104,000877,43752,647
11,223,97512,104,000880,02549,857
11,210,53412,104,000893,46662,580
11,195,98512,104,000908,01557,167
11,204,25712,104,000899,74368,671
11,200,87412,104,000903,12680,479
11,199,00612,104,000904,99480,413
11,196,54212,104,000907,45884,855
11,167,26112,104,000936,73970,683
11,167,88112,104,000936,11974,344
11,160,35112,104,000943,64982,363
11,148,34712,104,000955,65382,000
11,178,82712,104,000925,173136,194
11,095,06412,104,0001,008,93662,810
11,136,44212,104,000967,55898,159
11,131,52012,104,000972,48097,201
11,127,24812,104,000976,75282,759
11,126,83312,104,000977,16786,974
11,132,98312,104,000971,01793,533
11,135,34512,104,000968,65588,524
11,131,22812,104,000972,77263,383
11,127,44312,104,000976,55753,028
11,125,58712,104,000978,41355,514
11,160,57512,104,000943,42594,509
11,112,70312,104,000991,29737,397
11,109,54112,104,000994,45931,230
11,109,07812,104,000994,92229,472
11,108,77812,104,000995,22241,508
11,084,86012,104,0001,019,14023,684
11,092,23912,104,0001,011,76131,056
11,088,77112,104,0001,015,22938,148
11,085,86912,104,0001,018,13139,102
11,063,78312,104,0001,040,21741,676
11,049,97212,104,0001,054,02837,754
11,066,21712,104,0001,037,78367,151
10,981,79312,104,0001,122,20739,902
10,983,63512,104,0001,120,36543,263
10,984,28612,104,0001,119,71455,308
10,976,00512,104,0001,127,99556,198
10,984,97412,104,0001,119,02665,570
10,979,71512,104,0001,124,28574,890
10,978,68212,104,0001,125,31884,040
10,977,52012,104,0001,126,48097,803
10,972,11212,104,0001,131,888100,379
10,980,39812,104,0001,123,602109,033
10,970,95912,104,0001,133,041114,510
10,921,42212,104,0001,182,57844,033
10,921,18012,104,0001,182,82053,041
10,888,96112,104,0001,215,03934,431
10,896,22712,104,0001,207,77344,246
10,890,43712,104,0001,213,56351,649
10,889,21912,104,0001,214,78148,320
10,890,63512,104,0001,213,36566,984
10,881,99912,104,0001,222,00168,282
10,881,45512,104,0001,222,54570,921
10,879,73812,104,0001,224,26298,524
10,814,63012,104,0001,289,37023,502
10,818,76112,104,0001,285,23958,662
10,775,39112,104,0001,328,60925,109
10,781,20312,104,0001,322,79736,522
10,777,33112,104,0001,326,66943,171
10,776,43012,104,0001,327,57038,359
10,739,82112,104,0001,364,17929,200
10,727,78412,104,0001,376,21620,501
10,727,59712,104,0001,376,40336,955
10,696,65411,315,000618,34625,613
10,696,79111,315,000618,20957,662
10,650,92311,315,000664,07720,266
10,659,12011,315,000655,88029,713
10,655,44011,315,000659,56037,316
10,654,77211,315,000660,22836,707
10,655,44511,315,000659,55558,124
10,606,69111,315,000708,30947,708
10,606,09811,315,000708,90248,272
10,605,28311,315,000709,71775,506
10,569,23511,315,000745,76523,548
10,567,86511,315,000747,13551,290
10,559,45511,315,000755,54538,717
10,567,62511,315,000747,37548,253
10,562,35611,315,000752,64462,291
10,561,75211,315,000753,24860,023
10,560,02511,315,000754,97559,444
10,566,36911,315,000748,63146,705
10,568,14111,315,000746,85934,447
10,569,94811,315,000745,05230,638
10,568,72311,315,000746,27744,866
10,547,07811,315,000767,92231,173
10,554,97211,315,000760,02834,528
10,550,80411,315,000764,19637,102
10,550,60811,315,000764,39233,170
10,549,12111,315,000765,87955,469
10,576,57111,315,000738,42962,686
10,579,16711,315,000735,83359,069
10,576,19511,315,000738,80563,174
10,568,46911,315,000746,53157,303

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

What were the year's figures, at a glance?2009
The debt limit in 2009
MeasureValue
Statement days held252
Lowest room left ($ million)24,495
Day of the lowest room
Near the limit: room under this amount ($ million)1,000
Statement days near the limit0
Statement days with the limit suspended0
How much room was left at the end of each month of 2009?$ million
Last statement day of each month ($ million)
MonthDateSubject to the limitLimitRoom leftCash balance
January 200910,569,23511,315,000745,76523,548
February 200910,814,63012,104,0001,289,37023,502
March 200911,066,21712,104,0001,037,78367,151
April 200911,178,82712,104,000925,173136,194
May 200911,260,44412,104,000843,55615,222
June 200911,487,47012,104,000616,530115,984
July 200911,611,15212,104,000492,84892,971
August 200911,755,20612,104,000348,79493,333
September 200911,853,43512,104,000250,565108,324
October 200911,836,92012,104,000267,08019,721
November 200912,057,36212,104,00046,63899,236
December 200912,254,53112,394,000139,469186,632

The table scrolls sideways; the first column stays in place.

When did the limit change in 2009?A dash means suspended
Changes in the statutory limit ($ million; a dash means suspended)
First statement dayLimit beforeLimit after
11,315,00012,104,000
12,104,00012,394,000
When are the figures from?

Observed .

Room under the limit from the U.S. Treasury, Fiscal Data.

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