WASHINGTON, March 18. /TASS/. The US national debt has exceeded the $39 trillion mark for the first time in history, according to data released by the US Department of the Treasury, analyzed by TASS.

According to the published figures, US sovereign debt currently stands at $39.03 trillion, or more than $114,100 per resident. This is a record level. In October last year, it surpassed $38 trillion.

According to projections by US experts, over the next decade the national debt will rise to approximately 120% of GDP. This means that federal government debt will exceed the annual output of the entire US economy. Washington spends nearly $970 bln annually on interest payments on the national debt, which exceeds spending on the military. Since 2020, these expenditures have tripled.

The high level of national debt forces the federal government to allocate more funds to interest payments, leaving fewer resources for infrastructure, education, health insurance, and social programs. If investors begin to view US debt as riskier, interest rates could rise further, increasing borrowing costs for business development and investment.

Most US experts believe that balancing the federal budget can be achieved within a ten-year period. They recommend tying federal spending to the average annual revenue over the previous three years, adjusted for population growth and inflation. Experts also point to a longstanding issue in Congress’s budget process — the absence of a comprehensive framework encompassing all expenditures and revenues. They propose cutting unnecessary spending that places a burden on taxpayers.