Bangladesh, Aug. 25 -- The US national debt has surpassed $40 trillions for the first time amid fiscal pressures, the ongoing US-Israeli war with Iran and renewed inflation fears, with government borrowing on the rise.

The figure carries psychological weight, so to speak yet the real story here is the trajectory: gross federal debt reached 40.047 trillion on August 18, with about $32.3 trillion held by the public and around $7.8 trillion intragovernmental. It has more than doubled since 2017.

Six months earlier, the Congressional Budget Office had projected that gross federal debt would reach about $39.4 trillion by the end of the fiscal year. This faster-than-expected accumulation reflects, among other things, increased borrowing needs...