CBO projects $3T budget gap this year thanks to pandemic

In its latest 10-year projections, released Thursday, the Congressional Budget Office stated that the federal budget gap will increase to $3 trillion this fiscal year. This is nearly three times the amount recorded two years ago.Due to President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion pandemic relief plan, which Democrats approved without Republican support in March, the shortfall is much larger than previously projected.This gap is 13.4% of GDP. It's the second largest discrepancy in terms of size since World War II. It's only exceeded by the 14.9% shortfall last year. The deficit will average $1.2 trillion by 2031 after this year.