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The swelling national debt number, edging closer to the US$31,4-trillion statutory ceiling the US Congress placed on the government’s borrowing ability, has raised concerns about US fiscal sustainability and its negative spillover effects on global financial markets.
More than 33 years ago, a billboard-sized running total display was installed a block away from Times Square in New York City to remind passersby how much money the US federal government has borrowed from the public and has yet to pay back.
However, this tally, well-known as the National Debt Clock, did not seem to bother successive US governments, including the current administration. It read US$31,1 trillion for the first time on October 3, and is still ticking away madly. The swelling national debt number, edging closer to the US$31,4-trillion statutory ceiling the US Congress placed on the government’s borrowing ability, has raised concerns about US fiscal sustainability and its negative spillover effects on global financial markets.
The total public debt outstanding reached US$31,1 trillion on October 3, including US$24,3 trillion in debt held by the public and US6,8 trillion in intergovernmental holdings, said the US Treasury Department’s daily treasury statement released on October 4.
In fact, real-time data released by the official website of the National Debt Clock showed that the debt number, having so far well surpassed US$31,1 trillion, amounts to more than US$93 400 of debt per American citizen, and nearly US$250 000 of debt per taxpayer.
Given the new record, the ratio of the US federal debt to the gross domestic product has risen to roughly 126 percent, the data showed. An estimate by British financial media outlet Finbold showed that in 2022 alone, the US national debt grows by almost 6 billion dollars every day.
The number is more than the value of the economies of China, Japan, Germany and Britain combined, the Peter G. Peterson Foundation (PGPF) noted in an article published last week.
If every US household paid 1 000 dollars a month, it would still take 19 years for the debt to be paid off, noted the article. — Xinhua.
Online Reporter