MacIver Institute: Steil: Interest Payments on National Debt Could Hit $1 Trillion

Raising the interest rate might help fight inflation, but it could come at a hefty price.

The national debt rocketed past $30 trillion this year. Raising the interest rate raises the debt service payments, and those cannot be deferred. Meanwhile, the inflation rate is now at 8.4% for the year. On May 5th, the federal reserve raised the interest rate from 0.5% to 1%. Higher interest rates supposedly slow down inflation, but it also means an extra $100 billion interest payment on the debt. That’s just the beginning.

Congressman Bryan Steil might not be the only one predicting the Fed will raise interest rates again, but he is a lone voice pointing out how high those interest rates could very well go, and what that means for the federal government’s debt service payments.