"The federal government faces an unsustainable fiscal future," the GAO, an agency that provides auditing, evaluative, and investigative services for the US Congress, said. "If policies don't change, debt will continue to grow faster than the economy."
In its forecast, the GAO said government spending for the financial years 2022 to 2096 was expected to increase from 25% to 51%.
"At the end of fiscal year 2022, debt held by the public was about 97% of gross domestic product (GDP)," the forecast said. "Debt held by the public is projected to grow at a faster pace than the size of the economy. Debt held by the public is projected to reach its historical high of 106% of GDP within 10 years and to continue to grow at an increasing pace. GAO projects that this ratio could reach more than twice the size of the economy by 2051, absent any changes in revenue and spending policies."
The GAO alert comes as the US government is teetering on the brink of a debt default, more due to political wrangling between the Biden administration and its Republican rivals in Congress on the appropriate use of funds rather than an actual shortage of cash.
The Treasury Department has warned that the government will likely begin defaulting on its debt by June 1 if the congressional limit on the country's debt servicing is not raised by then.