- Independent CBO predicts devastation from coronavirus is going to see GDP fall almost 40 per cent in April, May and June
- It predicts 27 million will lose their jobs – although 24 million already have
- And it says deficit being built up by vast government spending to bailout businesses will explode
A recession caused by the coronavirus pandemic and a government spending spree on testing, health care and aid to businesses and households will nearly quadruple the federal budget deficit to $3.7 trillion, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday.
Among the legacies of the outbreak, a CBO report says, is a pile of trillions of dollars of debt, amassed by a political system that has proved incapable of taking even small steps to constrain this problem.
The 2020 budget deficit will explode after four coronavirus response bills passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump promise to pile more than $2 trillion onto the $24.6 trillion national debt in just the remaining six months of the current fiscal year, according to the report.
That’s more than double the deficit record set during President Barack Obama’s first year in office.