The Congressional Budget Office estimates that federal debt could reach about 70 percent of the country’s total gross domestic product by the end of this year, the agency reported Tuesday.The agency added that this year’s fiscal debt projection is an all-time high going back to shortly after World War II.
CBO said the aging of the baby-boom generation results in a significant increase in the share of the population receiving benefits from Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Under current law, spending on major federal health care programs alone would grow from more than 5 percent of GDP today to almost 10 percent in 2037 and would continue to increase, according to CBO.
