The Treasury paid out $92 billion a month in net interest on the national debt in the final three months of 2025, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) reported. That’s 13% higher than the year prior.
In its monthly budget review for September, released Friday, the CBO reported that budget outlays for October to December included a $276 billion spend on net interest on the public debt, up $31 billion for the same period at the close of 2024.
The reason is straightforward. The CBO reported interest payments were higher because the value of the debt was larger in the final three months of 2025 (which coincides with the first three months of the 2026 fiscal calendar beginning in October).
For the fiscal year of 2025 ending in September, the government spent $1.22 trillion on interest alone, per Treasury data.
Additionally, the costs were higher because of “higher long‐term interest rates and an increase in the rate of inflation.” Conversely, declines in the short-term interest rate partially mitigated the overall rise in payments.
