US debt reaches record $22 trillion

WASHINGTON: The United States’ national debt hit a record $US22 trillion

($NZ32.1 trillion) yesterday.

It stood at $US19.95 trillion when President Donald Trump took office on January 20, 2017.

The debt figure has been rising at a faster pace following passage of Trump’s

$US1.5 trillion tax cut in December 2017 and action by Congress last year to increase spending on domestic and military programmes.

However, the debt has been rising for decades, and has been on a rapidly accelerating path in recent years under different presidents.

Michael Peterson, head of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, estimated that interest on the national debt already cost more than $US1 billion daily, and said ‘‘as we borrow trillion after trillion, interest costs will weigh on our economy and make it harder to fund important investments for our future’’.

The national debt is the total of the annual budget deficits.

The US Congressional Budget Office has projected this year’s deficit will be $US897 billion, a 15.1% increase over last year’s imbalance of $US779 billion.

The CBO is projecting the deficit will keep rising in coming years and will top

$US1 trillion annually beginning in 2022. Much of the increase will come from rising costs to fund social security and Medicare as baby boomers retire. — DPA/Agencies