A harrowing US economy milestone: Federal budget deficit projected to hit a record $3.3TThe federal budget deficit is projected to hit a record $3.3 trillion as huge government expenditures to fight the coronavirus and to prop up the economy have added more than $2 trillion to the federal ledger, the Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
The spike in the deficit means that federal debt will exceed annual gross domestic product next year – a milestone that would put the U.S. where it was in the aftermath of World War II, when accumulated debt exceeded the size of the economy.
The $3.3 trillion figure is more than triple the 2019 shortfall and more than double the levels experienced after the market meltdown and Great Recession of 2008-09. Government spending, fueled by four coronavirus response measures, would register at $6.6 trillion, $2 trillion-plus more than 2019.