The new data raises concerns about the financial health of the world's largest economy, especially as military spending continues to increase sharply amidst Middle East tensions.
US public debt is increasing at a dizzying pace as the federal government has to borrow about 1,000 billion USD in just 5 months since October last year - the start of the new fiscal year.
According to the monthly budget review report released by the US Congressional Budget Office (CBO), in February alone, the government's total debt increased by 308 billion USD.
This information was released in the context of the continued expansion of the federal budget deficit and a sharp increase in government spending, especially defense spending.
One of the biggest reasons why the US budget is under pressure is the increasing cost of paying debt interest. In the first 5 months of the fiscal year, the US Treasury Department had to spend about 433 billion USD just to pay interest on the huge public debt.
The US's total public debt has now approached the 38.9 trillion USD mark - an unprecedented high in history. This figure is equivalent to a larger scale than the entire economy of many developed countries combined.
Financial experts warn that this trend is unlikely to last long. Ms. Maya MacGuineas - Chairman of the Responsible Federal Budget Committee (CRFB), a bipartisan fiscal supervisory organization in the US - believes that the current debt level is becoming a major risk.
According to her, Washington needs to quickly reduce the budget deficit and set a target to bring the deficit ratio down to about 3% of GDP as a starting point to stabilize the national finances.
In its latest report, CRFB said that the US is almost certain to enter the next economic shock with debt levels higher than at any time before.
Budget pressure is increasing as US military spending continues to explode. According to the Washington Post quoting officials, the US military used weapons worth about $5.6 billion in just the first 2 days of attacks on Iran.
Sources say that the administration of US President Donald Trump is preparing to send Congress an additional defense budget proposal in the next few days. This new spending package could be up to 50 billion USD to maintain the military campaign.
These figures sparked controversy in the US Congress, as many senators - especially from the Democratic side - questioned the real goals of the military campaign in Iran.
Some lawmakers believe that the Trump administration has not put forward a clear strategy, while statements from the White House about the timing and scale of the campaign are constantly changing.
According to sources quoted by Politico, the Pentagon predicts the conflict could last at least 100 days, even until September. This is completely contrary to President Trump's initial statement that the campaign could end in about 4 weeks.
If the prolonged war scenario becomes a reality, pressure on the US budget will increase even more. At that time, Washington may have to borrow hundreds of billions of USD more to finance both military spending and existing financial obligations.
