Cbo: Fed Govt Shutdown Costs Econ Loss Of 3.0 Billion

The federal government shutdown will cause slight permanent harm to the economy, about 3 billion dollars, according to a report Monday by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).

CBO's analysis shows that around $11 billion was lost, $3 billion of which will never be made back.

The report says the five-week shutdown has slowed growth in the near term but that most of the lost growth "will eventually be recovered."

Overall, CBO predicts that just 3.0 billion dollars in lost gross domestic product will be permanently lost, a modest figure in a 20 trillion dollars-plus economy. By year's end, CBO says, GDP would be just 0.02 smaller because of the shutdown, which shuttered many domestic agencies.

"The shutdown dampened economic activity mainly because of the loss of furloughed federal workers' contribution to (gross domestic product), the delay in federal spending on goods and services, and the reduction in aggregate demand" the report said. - Istanbul