The federal debt as a share of the U.S. economy is poised to hit a record by 2029 and will continue to rise over the next three decades, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said on Wednesday in a report that laid out the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges.
In its latest 30-year outlook, the budget office warned that rising debt will pose “significant risks” to the U.S. economic outlook in the coming years, pushing up interest payments to foreign bondholders and slowing economic growth. By 2054, the cost of interest payments on the debt will double to 6.3 percent of gross domestic product and spending on social safety net programs will account for more than half of the rest of the nation’s outlays.
The report outlined the nation’s long-term fiscal challenges at a moment when the United States continues to borrow heavily to pay for increased federal spending along with rising interest payments on its debt. An aging…
