CBO predicts $544B deficit in fiscal 2016

The US deficit will reach $544 billion — 2.9% of the country’s economic output — in fiscal 2016, according to the Congressional Budget Office. That’s up from $439 billion during the previous year. The CBO also expects deficits to total $9.4 trillion in the next 10 years, a sum that is $1.5 trillion higher than its forecast in August.