So long as the economy continues to recover, the deficit should narrow over the next several years as a growing economy boosts revenues and reduces expenditures and as the policies put in place to provide economic stimulus continue to wind down.
Even so, the federal budget is on an unsustainable path over the longer run, in large part because of the aging of the U.S. population and fast-rising healthcare costs. If current policy settings are maintained, the ratio of federal debt held by the public to national income would continue to rise in coming decades.