US COVID-19 Relief Package to Keep US Deficit Over 10% of GDP in 2021, Advocacy Group Reports

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) - The recent COVID-19 relief package will push the United States’ budget deficit to $2.3 trillion in 2021, down from last year but still more than 10 percent of gross domestic product, the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget warned in a press release on Tuesday.

"In light of the enactment of the year-end spending and COVID relief deal, we estimate the deficit will total $2.3 trillion for fiscal year (FY) 2021. This would be lower than the $3.1 trillion deficit in FY 2020 but at an estimated 10.4 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the release said.

The Congressional Budget Office has estimated the 2020 deficit at 16 percent of GDP, the largest since the final year of World War II in 1945, when the shortfall exceeded 25 percent of GDP.

On December 28, President Donald Trump signed a $900 billion COVID-19 relief package into law, extending unemployment benefits that had been set to expire for millions of Americans.