US national debt rises by $2.9 trillion within a year

This means that the national debt rose higher than the government and experts had previously forecast: by 2.9 trillion US dollars in one year. According to experts, the reasons for this are, among other things, US President Donald Trump's customs policy, long-term payment obligations in the areas of social security and health care, and rising interest costs. However, under President Joe Biden, the measures taken to combat the consequences of the pandemic have also contributed to rising debt.

CNN quotes Michael Peterson, from the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, which monitors the country's economic development: "If we continue like this, we'll end up with $50 trillion in just six years. If we look back: ten years ago we were at 20 trillion." This development endangers the economy and the future of the country.

Just a week ago, unbridled debt and stubbornly high inflation had pushed the cost of the US national debt to long-term highs. At an auction of US bonds with a term of 30 years, the yield was more than 5.2 percent last Thursday evening, the highest level in 25 years. Experts see the rising costs of the high national debt as an increasing problem for the US government under Trump in the midterm elections in November.

Interest payments from the US are gigantic

According to data from the US Treasury Department, the budget deficit in July alone was around $432 billion. This is an increase of almost 50 percent compared to the same month last year. Since the beginning of the year, the US deficit has now totaled almost $1.8 trillion.

Financing this rapidly growing mountain of debt is becoming increasingly costly for the US government. According to analyst Yannik Mosbach from the Frankfurt bank Metzler, the Treasury Department in Washington already has to spend around $100 billion per month on interest - and the trend is rising. Against this background, it is only a matter of time before the US debt issue becomes increasingly the focus of the financial markets again.