Under current law, deficits in CBO’s baseline projections continue to climb over the next decade, driving up federal debt. Economic growth remains modest, at about 2.0 percent through 2018 and then 1.9 percent later in the period.
If the debt limit remains unchanged, CBO projects that the Treasury will likely run out of cash in early to mid-October—leading to delays of payments for the government’s programs and activities, a default on its debt obligations, or both.