Caifinance News November 25 (Editor Bian Chun) As the US federal government continues to borrow at a record pace, the scale of US national debt has reached a new high.

The latest data released by the US Department of the Treasury shows that as of last Friday, the scale of US national debt has exceeded $36 trillion, breaking this level for the first time in history.

As a comparison, at the end of July this year, the scale of US national debt had just exceeded $35 trillion; at the beginning of January this year, it exceeded $34 trillion; and 40 years ago, the scale was around $907 billion.

It took over half a year to go from $34 trillion to $35 trillion in US debt size, but from $35 trillion to the current $36 trillion, it took just over 3 months. The growth rate of US debt is clearly accelerating.

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) predicts that by 2027, the publicly held debt will exceed 106% of GDP, reaching a record level, breaking the approximately 80-year record set in 1946 when the US was in the post-World War II recovery phase.

In recent years, as interest rates have risen and the cost of debt repayment has increased, the US federal budget deficit has continued to expand.

According to recent data released by the US Department of the Treasury, driven by the increase in debt interest costs and the growth of social security and defense expenditures, the US budget deficit for the fiscal year 2024 ending on September 30 reached $1.833 trillion, an 8% increase from the 2023 fiscal year, marking the third highest in history. The US Treasury also pointed out that federal debt interest exceeded $1 trillion for the first time.

Maya MacGuineas, Chair of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), pointed out that nowadays, government borrowing has become as certain as the changing of the seasons.

She warned that the continually rising debt will bring serious domestic and geopolitical risks. "It will slow down our economy, lead to higher inflation and interest rates, and higher rates will squeeze our budget. It also hinders our ability to flexibly respond to domestic economic downturns and disasters as well as foreign crises."

"The elections may be over, but the national debt continues to rise at full speed," said Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, advocating for fiscal sustainability in a statement. "This summer, America's debt exceeded $35 trillion, breaking through $36 trillion before Thanksgiving. This debt spiral rise must be stopped."

"In addition to the negative impact of debt on economic growth, all this borrowing will lead to inflation, and what we least want to see is American households' costs rising again," Peterson said.

It is worth noting that the short-term appropriations bill passed by the U.S. Congress in September this year is set to expire on December 20, and the U.S. Congress must take new legislative action using only about 20 working days in the next month to provide funding for the federal government to continue operating, otherwise the government will partially shut down due to lack of funds.

Editor/ping