Bloomberg reports that according to the Congressional Budget Office, the U.S. budget deficit will be wider than previously forecast this year because of a coronavirus relief package approved in December, but smaller over the next decade amid stronger economic growth.
CBO forecast a $2.26 trillion deficit in the fiscal year ending in September 2021, compared with a $1.81 trillion projection in the CBO’s prior outlook released in September 2020. The deficit was $3.13 trillion last year, and the largest as a share of the economy since World War II.
However, the agency’s forecast for deficits over the next decade was more sanguine, with the cumulative gap from 2021 to 2030 expected to be $345 billion smaller than in the previous forecast.
The estimates reflect the effects of the $900 billion stimulus legislation approved in December but not President Joe Biden’s latest proposals, which would add to the government ledgers.