US debt has exceeded $34 trillion dollars for the first time, triggering concern from economists over repeated annual deficits.
Lower tax receipts last year, increased borrowing costs for the government and continued spending above pre-pandemic levels have prompted the increase, which the Treasury Department unveiled on Tuesday.
This itself is up on the nation’s debt pile of $33 trillion, which was first surpassed just three months ago, and $31.4 trillion at the start of last year.
“Hitting $34 trillion is another reminder of how unsustainable our fiscal situation is,” Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget senior vice president Marc Goldwein said.
“If we’re adding this much to the debt in good times, things may get really awful in bad times.
“We can’t grow our debt faster than our economy forever.”
Whitehouse spokesperson Michael Kikukawa blamed congressional Republicans on Tuesday for the growing debt, arguing trillions was spent “in giveaways skewed to the wealthy”.
Recent economic growth provided calls for calm from some, meanwhile, with ex-Federal Reserve researcher Claudia Sahm suggesting context was important.
“The economy is growing, it is strong, and we have to think about it relative to our resources,” she said.
“This is not a sign of an imminent crisis. Maybe something we need to deal with, but we are not in a crisis moment on debt.”