Deficits to exceed $12 trillion through 2029: CBO

The federal government will rack up $12.2 trillion in deficits through 2029, according to a new projection from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO), an $809 billion increase from its last projection in May.

The CBO, Congress’s official budgeting scorekeeper, said that the deficits would average 4.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) through the next decade, a significant increase from the 2.9 percent average over the past 50 years.

Fueling the increase from May’s projection is the bipartisan deal to raise spending caps, which would add $1.7 trillion to the deficit over the course of the next decade. The projection is particularly high because the deal raised stringent budget caps that would have cut spending, meaning that the lion’s share of the projected new deficit is in comparison with scheduled cuts, not new spending.

View the complete August 21 article by Niv Elis on The Hill website here.