CBO Trims Its 10-Year Deficit Projections
The Debt

CBO Trims Its 10-Year Deficit Projections

iStockphoto/The Fiscal Times

The Congressional Budget Office on Thursday updated its 10-year budget outlook, making only small changes to its previous forecast. The nonpartisan budget scorekeeper now projects:

  • The federal budget deficit will reach $896 billion in 2019, $1 billion less than projected in January, but $117 billion than the 2018 gap.

  • The deficit will top $1 trillion a year beginning in 2022.

  • Cumulative deficits from the end of 2018 through 2029 will equal $12.7 trillion, but the total deficit from 2020 through 2029 is projected to be 2% smaller than previously forecast, mostly due to a reduced estimates of mandatory spending and net interest payments.

  • Between 2019 and 2029, federal debt held by the public as a share of the economy is projected to grow from 78% to 92%, which CBO says “would be the largest percentage since 1947 and more than twice the 50-year average.” If some current tax and spending policies are kept in place, the debt would grow larger, reaching 105% of the economy by 2029.

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