Debt Service in the United States

Debt Service in the Federal Budget Process

Meaning of Debt Service in the congressional and executive budget processes (GAO source): Payment of interest on, and repayment of principal on, borrowed funds. The term may also be used to refer to payment of interest alone. (See also Means of Financing.) As used in the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) Budget and Economic Outlook, debt service refers to a change in interest payments resulting from a change in estimates of the surplus or the deficit.

Resources

See Also

• Federal Appropriations
• Entries about the United States Budget Process in the Encyclopedia (including Debt Service)
• Public Debt

Further Reading

• Legislatures and the budget process: the myth of fiscal control

  (J Wehner, 2010)

• Reconcilable Differences?: Congress, the Budget Process, and the Deficit (JB Gilmour, 1990)
• Fiscal institutions and fiscal performance

  (JM Poterba, J von Hagen, 2008)