The Current National Debt Path The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimates that national debt held by the public (which excludes what the government owes itself) has will surpass the all-time record of 106 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2028. To put that in perspective, the average over the last 50 years was about 47 percent of GDP. The debt will be fueled by endless annual federal budget deficits (the difference between spending and revenue). The deficit is forecast to be $1.4 trillion this year. Bringing spending and revenue more in line, either by reducing spending and/or increasing revenue, will be necessary to improve the fiscal outlook once the current crisis has ended