CBO Warns 2025 Debt Interest Costs to Exceed World War II Levels

  • Deficit projections improve modestly, still climb steeply
  • Interest growth dominates deficit growth over next decade

The US Capitol in Washington, DC.

Photographer: Stefani Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images
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The cost to service the US government’s burgeoning debt load will hit a record high next year and then keep on climbing, the Congressional Budget Office warned on Wednesday.

Net interest payments will climb to 3.1% of gross domestic product next year, the highest level in records going back to 1940, and then go on to hit 3.9% in 2034, the CBO said in its latest outlook for the federal budget.