Former House Speaker Paul Ryan says the US dollar’s position as the world’s reserve currency is in jeopardy as the US government accumulates massive amounts of debt.
In a new CNBC interview, Ryan says US President Joe Biden is not proactively taking steps to stop the country’s hemorrhaging debt.
According to the former Wisconsin representative, the country is barrelling toward a debt crisis, one that could negatively impact the dollar’s status as the world’s most dominant reserve currency.
“So we have these leaders who are saying I am not going to do anything to stop a debt crisis in this country. And we know we have a debt crisis coming. So he’s courting disaster on that front. He’s basically harming our ability to stay as a reserve currency. He is moving us closer to a debt crisis by basically committing not to tackle this.”
Last month alone, the US government nearly $1 trillion in debt from $31.46 trillion on June 1st to its current value of $32.32 trillion. The government is projected to shell out $663 billion this year just to pay off the interest.
The country’s gross national debt is projected to rise to almost $52 trillion within a decade.
According to the US Congressional Budget Office, the soaring US debt would have detrimental effects on the economy in the long run.
“Such high and rising debt would slow economic growth, push up interest payments to foreign holders of US debt, and pose significant risks to the fiscal and economic outlook; it could also cause lawmakers to feel more constrained in their policy choices.”
