Analyst: Brace yourself for a busier-than-ever federal 'busy season’
Federal agencies’ natural tendency to spend more in the final months of a fiscal year has been amplified in recent years, and this year features new factors that could push it higher -- or knock it down.
Federal agencies’ natural tendency to spend more in the final months of a fiscal year has been amplified in recent years, Deltek analyst John Slye wrote on GovWin.com – adding, "the fiscal turmoil of FY 2011 and 2012 could make this season especially challenging."
In the post, published Aug. 22, Slye provided this chart showing the projected spending levels for the upcoming quarter:
In FY 2011, more than 40 percent of federal contract obligations came in Q4, Deltek research shows. According to Slye, a similar pattern in FY 2012 would mean as much as $45 billion in federal contracts and task orders IT products and services. Fears that budget sequestration will not be averted could slow some of that spending, Slye writes – though others have speculated that fears of looming cuts in January could prompt some agencies to push spending forward to fiscal 2012.