An Update to the Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2012-2022

For fiscal year 2012 (which ends on September 30), the federal budget deficit will total $1.1 trillion, CBO estimates, marking the fourth year in a row with a deficit of more than $1 trillion. That projection is down slightly from the $1.2 trillion deficit that CBO projected in March. At 7.3 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the 2012 deficit will be three-quarters as large as the deficit in 2009 when measured relative to the size of the economy. Federal debt held by the public will reach 73 percent of GDP by the end of the 2012 fiscal year—the highest level since 1950 and about twice the share that it measured at the end of 2007, before the financial crisis and recent recession.

NOTE: NO FURTHER DISCOUNTS FOR ALREADY REDUCED SALE ITEMS.

These projections are designed to serve as a benchmark that policymakers can use when considering possible changes.