Fed Payouts Add Another $100 Billion to Soaring Cost of US Debt

Interest payments by the US government are rising fast, according to the latest budget numbers published by the Treasury — and even faster in reality.

The Treasury shelled out some $861 billion in net interest on the national debt over the 12 months through July, the department’s latest release showed this week. That’s almost double what it was two years earlier.

But there’s another stream of government interest payments that doesn’t show up in the budget. Outlays by the Federal Reserve added about $100 billion to Uncle Sam’s effective interest bill over the past year. The sum is more than ...