Explain how each of the following will affect the net public debt, other things being equal: previously, the government operated with a balanced budget; however, recently, there has been a sudden increase in federal tax collections. the federal government had been operating with a very small annual budget deficit until three successive hurricanes hit the Atlantic coast, and now government spending has risen substantially. The government national mortgage association, a federal government agency that purchases specific types of home mortgages, buys U.S. treasury bonds from another government agency.