The U.S. federal budget deficit will rise above 1.8 trillion dollars in the current fiscal year, about four times the record set last year, the White House said Monday.
The latest estimate of budget deficit for the current year ending September 30, 2009, was 89 billion dollars more than the red ink of 1.75 trillion dollars projected in President Barack Obama's budget for 2010 fiscal year, which he submitted to Congress in February.
The deficit for the 2010 fiscal year beginning Oct. 1 this year will climb by 87 billion dollars to 1.3 trillion dollars.
The worsening budget deficit reflects the soaring costs of the government's economic stimulus package and financial rescue program, and the recession, which has resulted in a sharp decline in tax revenue. While tax revenues are down, the government is paying out more than expected for unemployment benefits and food stamps.
The new figures came as the White House is about to complete its 3.6 trillion dollar budget plan for 2010, adding details to some of its tax proposals and ideas for producing health care savings.
The White House budget plan also represents Obama's fiscal and policy vision for the next decade.
According to the plan, annual deficits would never dip below 500 billion dollars and would total 7.1 trillion over 2010-2019. Even these dismal figures rely on economic projections that are significantly more optimistic -- just a 1.2 percent decline in gross domestic product this year and a 3.2 percent growth rate for2010 -- than those forecast by private economists.
The U.S. budget deficit hit an all-time high of 454.8 billion dollars in 2008 fiscal year. In the 2007 fiscal year, the deficit dropped by 34.4 percent to 162 billion dollars, a five-year low since an imbalance of 159 billion dollars in 2002, reflecting a faster growth in government revenues than spending.
The 2002 performance marked the first budget deficit after four consecutive years of budget surpluses.
To cover the government's borrowing needs, U.S. Congress boosted the limit for the national debt to 12.1 trillion dollars in February this year. The national debt now stands at 11.1 trillion dollars.
Source:Xinhua
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