U.S. national debt projected to reach 98 percent of GDP by end of decade
It doesn't look like President Trump will be able to keep his 2016 campaign promise of paying off the federal debt during his presidency.
The Congressional Budget Office released a report Tuesday predicting U.S. debt will reach 98 percent of the country's GDP by 2030, up from the 81 percent the office foresees the deficit reaching by the end of 2020. The CBO projects the government will spend $1 trillion more than it collects in 2020, a number which would then increase every year for, well, a while.
The prognostication is reportedly mostly a result of tax cuts and the assumption that the government will continue to increase spending, per The Wall Street Journal. If the Trump administration's tax cuts enacted in 2017 are extended beyond their current expiration at the end of 2025, the latest CBO estimates may fall short.
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CBO Director Phillip Swagel expects the deficit level to eventually reach some historic highs, especially for a time of low unemployment. He said his office's projections will approach figures not seen "since World War II." Read more at The Wall Street Journal.
