Fiscal Balance in USA

USA - Fiscal Balance
Congress approves unprecedented USD 2 trillion coronavirus stimulus deal in March
After days of heated negotiations, U.S. policymakers passed a historic stimulus package on 27 March amounting to roughly USD 2 trillion (close to 10% of GDP), in efforts to combat the severe economic fallout from the coronavirus pandemic. The major facets of the spending plan are direct transfers and expanded unemployment benefits for American individuals and families, financial assistance to embattled sectors, loans to small businesses, and funding for hospitals. The deal follows the approximately USD 100 billion bill passed in mid-March, which expanded funds for food programs, Medicaid and paid leave, and the early March USD 8 billion package, which included measures for vaccine research and free virus testing. Although the massive fiscal stimulus should provide some relief, it will ultimately not be enough to fully offset widespread damage and may not go far enough for businesses or households when factoring elevated corporate and household debt into the equation.
The USD 2 trillion package is broken down into three main components. The first deals with relief for American households and includes direct deposits of USD 1,200 to individuals earning USD 75,000 or below and an additional USD 500 per child and smaller payouts for incomes above that threshold. In addition, the plan also expands jobless benefits, providing 13 extra weeks of unemployment pay, and extends the benefits to gig workers and freelancers. The second major feature of the package deals with economic relief for companies. It provides a USD 500 billion lending program for companies in struggling sectors—with USD 60 billion earmarked for a bailout of commercial airlines, which have reeled in the wake of travel restrictions worldwide—and an additional USD 350 billion in federally guaranteed loans to small businesses. Third, the package allocates USD 100 billion in direct funding for hospitals severely impacted by the virus.
Commenting on the effectiveness of the stimulus, Leslie Preston, senior economist at TD Economics, noted that the measures will “do little to boost near-term demand, and as such won’t boost our near-term estimate of GDP growth”. That said, looking further ahead, Preston went on to say that: “it will help ensure that there are more businesses to spend money at once the pandemic subsides. […] This should help ensure that the U.S. economy is able to bounce back more readily once the worst of the pandemic passes and social distance measures come to an end.”
Despite the recent passage of this fiscal package, lawmakers are already expecting to introduce another round of stimulus in the coming weeks or months. Given the looming slump in economic activity, coupled with the size of the fiscal package, the budget deficit will widen markedly this year, with FocusEconomics panelists now projecting a shortfall well above 5% of GDP. Moreover, public debt is expected to reach 115% of GDP.
Addressing the implications for the fiscal deficit, James Knightley, chief international economist at ING, noted:
“In arguably the most benign case whereby the economy contracts around 3%, that still implies a fiscal deficit of around 12% of GDP. A deeper, more prolonged economic dislocation that requires significantly more fiscal support can quickly get you up to a fiscal deficit well in excess of 20% of GDP. This truly is comparable with wartime. Unfortunately, the demographic situation will make lowering deficits and debt levels much more challenging relative to post World War 2.”
FocusEconomics Consensus Forecast panelists see the fiscal deficit widening to 7.6% of GDP in 2020, which is down 2.9 percentage points from last month’s estimate, and project a fiscal shortfall of 7.4% in 2021.
United States - Fiscal Balance Data
2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiscal Balance (% of GDP) | -2.4 | -3.1 | -3.4 | -3.8 | -4.6 |
United States Facts
Value | Change | Date | |
---|---|---|---|
Bond Yield | 1.92 | -0.43 % | Dec 31 |
Exchange Rate | 1.12 | 0.65 % | Dec 31 |
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Economic News
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United States: Composite PMI sinks to over two-year low in July
July 25, 2022
The S&P Global Flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) dived to an over two-year low of 47.5 in July, from 52.3 in June.
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United States: Retail sales bounce back in June
July 15, 2022
Retail sales grew 1.0% in month-on-month seasonally-adjusted terms in June, which contrasted May's 0.1% decrease and beat market expectations for a 0.8% uptick.
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United States: Inflation comes in at highest level since 1981 in June
July 13, 2022
Consumer prices rose 1.32% in June over the previous month, picking up from May's 0.97% increase.
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United States: Job gains exceed expectations in June
July 8, 2022
Total non-farm payrolls increased by 372,000 in June, down slightly from May’s 384,000 revised figure but above market expectations of 268,000.
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United States: Consumer confidence falls in June to over one-year low
June 30, 2022
Consumer confidence fell to 98.7 in June from May's 103.2.