By Tom Gantert (The Center Square)
During fiscal year 2024, the federal government would need to borrow about $5 billion per day.
Congressional Budget Office Said On Thursday, the federal budget deficit was $1.5 trillion for the first 10 months of fiscal 2024 (October through July).
The CBO projects a deficit of $1.5 trillion in the first 10 months of fiscal 2024, $103 billion less than the deficit recorded in the same period last fiscal year.
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The federal budget agency projects the deficit will be $2 trillion in 2024, compared with $1.7 trillion in fiscal 2023. But the CBO says the difference in that year’s deficit could be due to a “timing shift” in the budget.
“We are nearing the end of fiscal year 2024, and while most Americans are focused on the race for the White House, beneath the surface, our nation’s fiscal health continues to deteriorate,” Maya McGinnis, chair of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said in a news release. “We just passed $35 trillion in total debt, and today’s CBO forecast shows that we borrowed $242 billion more in July, and $5 billion every day this fiscal year. Our fiscal trajectory cannot be left on autopilot. The risks are too great and the consequences too steep to allow our national debt to continue to grow forever.”
The Peter G. Peterson Foundation, founded by Peter Peterson, who served as Secretary of Commerce under President Richard Nixon, tracks the national debt at $35.08 trillion, or $104,193 per capita, as of August 8.
“Historically, our largest deficits have been caused by increased spending surrounding major wars or national emergencies such as the Great Depression,” the foundation says on its website. “Today, our deficits are largely the result of predictable structural factors: the aging baby boomer generation, rising health care costs, and a tax system that does not bring in enough money to pay for what the government promised its citizens.”
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The think tank Truth in Accounting has actually debt Including unfunded Social Security and Medicare promises, the figure is closer to $156.8 trillion.
Jointly published with permission At Center Square.
