WorthyNews:US Federal Budget Deficit Now Projected to be $1.9 Trillion for 2024

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by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – The US Congressional Budget Office on Tuesday published a new report showing the Budget Deficit for the 2024 fiscal year is now projected to be $1.9 trillion – an increase of around $400 billion from a projection offered in February.

The CBO is tasked with publishing regular reports of its projections for the federal budget and the economy over the next 10 years if tax laws and general spending remain stable.

In its June 2024 report the CBO makes the following projections for this year: Budget deficit: $1.9 trillion; Debt held by the public: 99% of GDP; Outlays: $6.8 trillion; Revenues: $4.9 trillion.

Concerning the revision of February’s projections, the CBO explained in its report: “In CBO’s current projections, the deficit for 2024 is $0.4 trillion (or 27 percent) larger than it was in the agency’s February 2024 projections, and the cumulative deficit over the 2025–2034 period is larger by $2.1 trillion (or 10 percent). The largest contributor to the cumulative increase was the incorporation of recently enacted legislation into CBO’s baseline, which added $1.6 trillion to projected deficits.”

“That legislation included emergency supplemental appropriations that provided $95 billion for aid to Ukraine, Israel, and countries in the Indo-Pacific region. By law, that funding continues in future years in CBO’s projections (with adjustments for inflation), boosting discretionary outlays by $0.9 trillion through 2034,” the report continues.

The CBO noted that other unanticipated spending, including the Biden Administration’s student debt forgiveness policy, prompted revised projections.

“A $145 billion increase in projected outlays for student loans stems mostly from revisions that the Administration made to the estimated subsidy costs of previously issued loans and from the Administration’s proposed rule to reduce many borrowers’ balances on student loans,” the CBO said.

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