The U.S. national debt is on pace to break a record set after World War II in four years, while annual budget deficits are projected to balloon to $3 trillion a year a decade from now, according to a new analysis by Congress’ financial watchdog.

The nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released a budget and economic outlook spanning the next decade, which projected that federal budget deficits will rise from an estimated $1.9 trillion in fiscal year 2026 to $3.1 trillion in 2036.

Mounting budget deficits will push the national debt higher, with the gross federal debt rising from an estimated $39.4 trillion at the end of fiscal year 2026 to $63 trillion in 2036. That will also increase the amount of debt held by the public from $32 trillion to $56 trillion in that period and with it the public as a share of gross domestic product (GDP), a measure economists prefer to use in comparing a nation’s debt to the size of its economy.

U.S. debt held by the public is estimated to rise to 108% of GDP in 2030, which would surpass the record of 106% set in 1946 as the U.S. was in the process of demobilization after the end of World War II. A decade from now, debt held by the public as a percentage of GDP is projected to reach 120%.

NATIONAL DEBT SURPASSES $38 TRILLION MILESTONE FOR FIRST TIME IN HISTORY AS SPENDING SURGES

Making the fiscal picture even worse, the CBO estimates that the debt held by the public is expected to grow faster than U.S. GDP as projected in the years ahead, which could have far-reaching implications for the nation’s fiscal and economic outlook. It explained that could slow economic growth and reduce private investment, while hiking interest costs from servicing the debt.

“The United States’ fiscal position would be more vulnerable to an increase in interest rates, because the larger debt is, the more an increase in interest rates raises debt-service costs,” CBO wrote. 

“The risk of a fiscal crisis — that is, a situation in which investors lose confidence in the value of the U.S. government’s debt — would increase. Such a crisis would cause interest rates to rise abruptly and other economic and financial disruptions to occur.”

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The national debt as a share of the U.S. economy is on track to surge past a post-World War II record in the next four years. (Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images)

The budget watchdog added that higher inflation expectations could erode the dollar’s status as the dominant international reserve currency. 

Further, it could cause lawmakers to feel constrained about using tax and spending policies in response to unforeseen events, such as to stimulate the economy or to strengthen national defense.

Under the CBO’s outlook, net interest costs are expected to surge from a little over $1 trillion in fiscal year 2026, representing 3.3% of GDP, to more than $2.1 trillion in 2036, when it would amount to 4.6% of GDP.

Interest costs are expected to account for nearly 14% of total federal spending this year, but would rise to nearly 19% of federal spending in 2036 under the CBO’s projection.

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The rising national debt and growing deficits will make it harder for Congress to enact tax and spending policies. (iStock)

Michael Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, called the CBO’s latest report “an urgent warning to our leaders about America’s costly fiscal path.”

“Improving affordability is a top priority for the nation. Borrowing trillion after trillion takes us in the wrong direction, leading to higher interest costs and higher prices for everyday needs,” he said. “This election year, voters understand the connection between rising debt and their personal economic condition. And the financial markets are watching.

“Stabilizing our debt is an essential part of improving affordability and must be a core component of the 2026 campaign conversation.”

Maya MacGuineas, president of the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget (CRFB), said, “There are no surprises here or bright spots of encouraging news: Our nation’s deficits, debt, interest payments and trust funds are all in terrible shape.

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“Fiscal leadership is not easy — it requires committing to not making the situation worse by withholding support for new legislation that is debt financed, focusing on actual solutions rather than casting blame, and being willing to make tough policy choices that will be the centerpiece of any serious debt deal,” she added.

“This is too important a moment for our leaders to shirk these responsibilities, and I encourage every Member of Congress and the President to take a cold hard look at these numbers and pledge to fix our nation’s finances before it’s too late.”

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to the conference call on the financial results of the first 3 quarters of the business year 2025, 2026. I am Sandra, the Chorus Call operator. [Operator Instructions] The conference is being recorded.

[Operator Instructions] At this time, it is my pleasure to hand over to Attila Dogudan, CEO. Please go ahead, sir.

Attila Dogudan
Chairman of Management Board & CEO

Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, and good morning to the U.S. This is Attila Dogudan. I’m together with Johannes, with both Johannes in Istanbul and Bettina and Attila Jr. are joining from Vienna. This time, we are very happy to share our Q3 results, and we’ll be then ready for the Q&A, as always, once Johannes is finished.

We had, again, great 9 months, the best ever result in the history of the company. As you have already seen, I guess, revenues have increased, which you see then on Page 3 in the presentation, by 5% up to EUR 1.236 million in total revenues. If you look at the revenue increase at constant currencies, it’s 18%. This is the first time we report this as well to have a good comparison for you without the FX up and down, so to say.

The EBITDA of EUR 227.7 million means an increase of 15% or 16% and

Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to our 2025 year-end and fourth quarter results for Russel Metals. Today’s call will be hosted by Mr. Martin Juravsky, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer; and Mr. John Reid, President and Chief Executive Officer of Russel Metals Inc. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn the meeting over to Mr. Martin Juravsky. Please go ahead, Mr. Juravsky. Thank you.

Martin Juravsky
Executive VP, CFO & Secretary

Great. Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. I plan on providing an overview of the full year and Q4 2025 results. And if you want to follow along, I’ll be using the PowerPoint slides that are on our website and just go to the Investor Relations section, and it’s located in the conference call submenu. If you go to Page 3, you can read our cautionary statement on forward-looking information. So before I go into detail on the fourth quarter, I want to provide a little context.

I view Q4 and even full year 2025 as continuations of a broader game plan that has been unfolding over several years. And if you go to Page 5, you’ll get a bit of a snapshot of the significant changes over the last several years, including 2025. On the left graph, you see that we generated about $2.2 billion of cash flow since 2020. This has been asset sales such as

The company’s revenue from operations stood at Rs 602 crore in Q3FY26, recording a 16% growth versus Rs 518 crore in the October-December period of FY26.

The bottom line grew by 28% sequentially versus Rs 39 crore in Q2FY26, while the topline witnessed a 12% quarter-on-quarter growth compared to Rs 538 crore.

However, Q3 revenue from operations on a like-for-like (LFL) basis stood at Rs 630 crore, recording an uptick of 22% YoY, marking the highest-ever quarterly revenue for the company, the company filing to the exchanges said.

During the year ended March 31, 2025, the Holding Company implemented Project ‘Neev’, under which it shifted to a direct distribution model across the top 50 cities. As part of this transition, the company discontinued the super stockist layer and certain direct distributors, replacing them with higher-quality Tier 1 distributors to service retailers.

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As a result of this restructuring, the company provided for sales returns of Rs 63.51 crore during FY25, with a corresponding inventory/right-to-return asset of Rs 11 crore. As of December 31, 2025, the outstanding provision for sales returns related to this transition stood at Rs 3.41 million, with no remaining inventory or right-to-return asset.
Younger brands continued to build scale, recording over 25% growth. The Derma Co. sustained strong momentum, maintaining a double-digit EBITDA profile while scaling efficiently. Offline execution continued to improve with a focus on the top 100 towns. Direct outlet coverage crossed 1 lakh outlets, while total distribution expanded over 25% YoY to 2.7 lakh outlets.Also read: HAL Q3 Results: Profit climbs 30% YoY to Rs 1,867 crore; co declares Rs 35/share dividend

Continued investment in product re-innovation, with Mamaearth Rice Face Wash and BBlunt Intense Moisture Shampoo performing strongly against leading national and international competition.

Management Commentary

Commenting on Q3 performance, CIO & Co-founder Ghazal Alagh said innovation and re-innovation remain at the heart of how the company builds its brands at Honasa. “Products like Mamaearth Rice Face Wash and BBlunt Intense Moisture Shampoo performing strongly against leading national and international benchmarks reaffirm our belief that consumers reward genuine product superiority. As we move ahead, our focus remains clear- strengthen fundamentals, invest in better science and sharper execution, and continue building Honasa as a House of Purposeful Brands anchored in sustainable, long-term growth,” Alagh said.

(Disclaimer: The recommendations, suggestions, views, and opinions given by the experts are their own. These do not represent the views of The Economic Times.)

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Morguard North American Residential REIT 2025 Fourth Quarter Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on Thursday, February 12, 2026. I would now like to turn the conference over to Chris Newman, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.

Christopher Newman
Chief Financial Officer

Thank you for joining us today. With me here is President and CEO, Angela Sahi; SVP, Paul Miatello; SVP, Legal Counsel, Beverley Flynn; SVP U.S. Operations, John Talano; and Ruth Grabel, VP of the Canadian Operation.

As is customary, I will provide comments on the REIT’s financial position and performance. In terms of our financial position, the REIT completed the fourth quarter of 2025 with total assets amounting to $4.5 billion, lower compared to $4.6 billion from December 31, 2024. This was mainly driven by a change in the U.S. dollar exchange rate, partly offset by a fair value increase on the REIT’s income producing property.

The REIT finished the fourth quarter with approximately $115 million of cash on hand and $12 million advanced to Morguard Corporation.

The following is a brief summary of the REIT’s notable achievements throughout 2025. During the year, the REIT refinanced maturing mortgages for gross proceeds of $245.6 million at a weighted average interest rate of 4.92% for a weighted average term of

Chevron’s flagship Gulf Coast refinery is processing its first Venezuelan oil shipment since the U.S. capture of Nicolás Maduro in Caracas last month, turning heavy, tar-like crude into gasoline, diesel and jet fuel for American consumers.

“We’ve been [in Venezuela] for a long time, and it looks like things are starting to go better for both the Venezuelan people and I would say for the American people too, because what’s going to happen is the more that oil that flows to a place like Pascagoula or some of the other refineries here, it drives down the cost,” Andy Walz, President of Downstream, Midstream & Chemicals at Chevron, told FOX Business in an exclusive interview Thursday. 

“That oil is going to be cheaper, it’s closer, and it’s going to help these refineries run the way they were designed, so I think it’s a really good thing.”

Walz’s comments were among the first public acknowledgments by Chevron of processing Venezuelan crude in U.S. refineries under the company’s renewed sanctioned operations.

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A Petroleos de Venezuela SA (PDVSA) oil pumpjack on Lake Maracaibo in Cabimas, Zulia state, Venezuela on Nov. 17, 2023. (Gabby Oraa/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)

FOX Business was granted exclusive access inside Chevron’s facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi on Thursday, where correspondent Lauren Simonetti reported near distillation units processing Venezuelan oil that arrived weeks ago. 

FOX Business was granted access to Chevron’s Pascagoula, Mississippi, facility Thursday, where correspondent Lauren Simonetti reported near distillation units processing Venezuelan crude that arrived in recent weeks.

The refinery currently processes about 50,000 barrels per day of Venezuelan crude, and Chevron has indicated it could take on another 100,000 barrels per day across its U.S. system as additional shipments arrive.

Chevron’s Pascagoula refinery is among a limited number of U.S. Gulf Coast facilities configured to process heavy sour crude like Venezuela’s, alongside complex refineries in New Orleans, Lake Charles, Port Arthur, Houston and Corpus Christi.

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The Pascagoula Chevron Refinery.  (Brooks Kraft LLC/Corbis via Getty Images / Getty Images)

The refinery also has the advantage of bringing Venezuelan oil directly into its harbor, eliminating the need to offload to smaller ships or rely on offshore pipelines.

“It’s a pretty efficient system,” Walz said, pointing to a large ship in the background.

“This refinery runs 300,000 [total] barrels a day, so you’ve got to have ships showing up here all the time, and it’s really convenient to have it close, but it’s also important, and it’s a better way to run your operation.”

Chevron CEO Mike Wirth recently told FOX Business that the company is expanding its Venezuelan operations, highlighting its long-standing presence and growth in output under its current sanctioned authorization.

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“We’ve been there for most of the last 100 years. We’ve got an important partner in the development and growth of Venezuela. We’re being repaid debt that we’re owed, and others that have left have had more difficulty with that,” Wirth said. 

“We’ve grown our production over the last couple of years from 50,000 barrels a day to 250,000, so five-fold. And over the next 18 to 24 months, we see the potential to grow by another 50%.”