The U.S. national debt has exceeded $33 trillion for the first time in the country’s history, according to information released by the U.S. Treasury Department.
In the database on the website of the Ministry of Finance in the column “total public debt” as of 18 September, the amount of $33.04 trillion is listed. This is a record figure of the U.S. national debt. On 16 June, it exceeded the mark of $32 trillion.
At the beginning of the year, the ceiling of the U.S. national debt, set by law at $31.4 trillion, was exceeded. After that the Ministry of Finance of the country was forced to use emergency measures to continue its financial operations. In recent months, the U.S. administration has urged Congress to increase the debt limit. Republicans controlling the House of Representatives agreed to raise the debt ceiling, but on the condition of a significant reduction in budget expenditures.
On 3 June, US President Joe Biden signed a bill approved earlier by Congress to raise the national debt ceiling. Thus, the limit will be reached on 2 January 2025. The initiative, which, according to the President, allowed to prevent the economic crisis and the collapse of the United States, was approved by the Senate on 1 June. On 31 May, it was done by the House of Representatives. The agreement reached provides that in fiscal year 2024 (starts in the country from October 1) $886 billion will be allocated for defence, $121 billion – for veterans’ health care, $637 billion – for other non-defence programmes.