WASHINGTON -- The Treasury Department estimates that it will end up borrowing $552 billion for the current budget year, the lowest total in eight years.
The Treasury's borrowing estimate covers the budget year that began last October and will end Sept. 30. The total would represent a drop of 17.6 percent from last year's $670 billion total. It will represent the smallest annual amount since the government borrowed $150 billion in 2007.
Borrowing began to surge after 2007 to meet a string of record deficits. Between 2009 and 2012, the deficit -- the gap between revenues and spending -- topped $1 trillion as the government struggled to cope with a financial crisis and the worst recession since the 1930s.
The government's current total debt stands at $18.1 trillion.
FDA OKs drug made through 3-D printing
WASHINGTON -- The Food and Drug Administration has approved the first prescription drug made through 3-D printing: a dissolvable tablet that treats seizures.
Aprecia Pharmaceuticals said Monday that the FDA approved its drug Spritam for adults and children who suffer from certain types of seizures caused by epilepsy. The tablet is manufactured in a layered process via 3-D printing and dissolves when taken with liquid.
The FDA has previously approved medical devices -- including prosthetics -- made with 3-D printing. An agency spokesman confirmed the new drug is the first prescription tablet approved that uses the process.
Doctors are increasingly turning to 3-D printing to create customized implants for patients with rare conditions and injuries. The FDA held a workshop last year for medical manufacturers interested in the technology.
Cargill closes on ADM's chocolate unit
NEW YORK -- Archer Daniels Midland Co. said Monday it sold its chocolate business to agribusiness conglomerate Cargill for $440 million.
The companies announced the sale in September. Privately held Cargill said the deal would strengthen and expand its chocolate business, and Archer Daniels Midland said the sale would allow it to redirect its spending to other areas. Cargill said its chocolate business now has about 3,000 employees, including 670 that transferred from Archer Daniels Midland.
Under an agreement with antitrust regulators in the European Union, Cargill will sell an industrial chocolate production facility in Mannheim, Germany.
Archer Daniels Midland processes corn and wheat and makes agricultural products such as vegetable oil, ethanol and ingredients used in packaged foods and drinks. It bought Switzerland's Wild Flavors for $3.13 billion last year, and reported $17.51 billion in revenue in the first quarter.
Shares of Archer Daniels Midland rose 28 cents to close Monday at $47.70. Its shares have risen more than 3 percent over the past year.
Sears, Kmart quarterly sales slide 10.6%
Sears Holdings Corp., the retailer run by hedge-fund manager Edward Lampert, posted a 10.6 percent drop in same-store sales last quarter, its second consecutive period of double-digit declines.
The company's sales fell 13.9 percent at Sears-branded stores and they decreased 6.9 percent at its Kmart chain, according to a statement on Monday. Sluggish demand for consumer electronics contributed to the decline, which follows an 11 percent drop in the first quarter. The Hoffman Estates, Ill.-based company said it's now working to revamp that product category.
The results reflect Lampert's challenges in turning around Sears. The department-store chain has struggled to connect with shoppers. To stem the flow of red ink, he has been shedding assets such as the Lands' End clothing business. Lampert, Sears's chief executive officer and largest shareholder, also generated $2.7 billion by selling 235 properties to a real estate investment trust that was spun off from the retailer.
"We intend to continue taking significant actions to alter our capital structure," including further reductions in debt or changes in the composition of its debt, Sears said on Monday.
The numbers sent Sears shares down $2.16, or 10 percent, to close Monday at $19.39. The shares already fell 28 percent this year through the end of last week.
-- Bloomberg News
Business on 08/04/2015