NEW YORK — Michael A. Peterson, CEO of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, issued the following statement after the Treasury Department announced a fiscal year 2019 deficit of $984 billion, a 26 percent increase from last year and the largest deficit since 2012.

“America remains on the fast track to trillion-dollar deficits, rising rapidly as far as the eye can see.

“With all of the important investments we need to make in our future, we find ourselves in a situation where interest costs are the fastest growing program in the federal budget. That’s not where we want growth.

“If we stay on this path, we’ll leave our kids and grandkids with diminished resources, opportunity and quality of life. It’s essential that our leaders begin to face this challenge, in order to position the U.S. for a prosperous future and leadership role in the world.”