Washington:
The Congressional Budget Office expects the US economy will grow at a 4.6 per cent annual rate this year, with employment returning to pre-pandemic levels in 2024.
The 10-year outlook issued Monday said the economic recovery from the coronavirus has been boosted by an unprecedented wave of government spending to combat the outbreak, such that growth could pass its maximum sustainable level in early 2025 before returning to a long-run average of 1.7 per cent. Based on the CBO’s projections, economic growth would be the strongest since 1999.
Congress has spent USD 4 trillion to keep the economy stable since the pandemic shuttered schools, offices, restaurants, gyms and other businesses, leading to roughly 10 million job losses and an economic decline of 3.5 per cent last year.
The CBO estimates factored in the roughly USD 900 billion approved in December, but they excluded President Joe Biden’s USD 1.9 trillion plan because the projections are based on current law.
Biden’s supporters can point to the CBO’s projection of a three-year recovery in hiring as a need for more aid. But Republican lawmakers can simultaneously argue that less money is needed to boost the economy because the CBO estimates that the total economy will return to its pre-pandemic size in the middle of this year.
