The federal deficit will rise to $534 billion for fiscal 2016, the Congressional Budget Office estimated Thursday, nearly $100 billion higher than the year before.
While the deficit is growing and Congress’ nonpartisan budget agency sees an increasing “probability of a fiscal crisis in the United States,” the budget outlook is slightly improved from the last report, released in January.
At $534 billion, the fiscal 2016 deficit estimate is $10 billion less than the budget office projected in January.
Over the next 10 years, cumulative deficits will be $95 billion less than projected in January, thanks primarily to $79 billion in higher revenue.
The improvement is mostly attributable to technical changes in the agency’s calculations in how much the government will spend on mandatory spending programs such as Medicaid and student loans.
