WASHINGTON, Sept 7 (AFP) - The US government is expected to run a record 422-billion-dollar deficit for the fiscal year to September 30, the Congressional Budget Office said Tuesday.
Although the gap is the highest ever in dollar terms, it is slightly below the forecast published in late July by the White House for a 445-billion-dollar budget deficit.
The deficit projected by the nonpartisan CBO would be 3.6 percent of the US gross domestic product (GDP), smaller than the deficits of the mid-1980s and early 1990s relative to the size of the economy.
The deficit projections are also somewhat lower than those made earlier this year by the CBO and the administration of President George W. Bush, which at one point forecast a gap of 521 billion dollars.
The new CBO report said that under existing law, the deficit is projected to decline to 348 billion dollars, or 2.8 percent of GDP, in 2005, and that the budget would remain in the red through 2014.
The cumulative deficit for 2005 through 2014 is projected at 2.3 trillion dollars, or 1.5 percent of total GDP.
But analysts point out that the real figures could be sharply different if various tax changes are enacted, including widely expected moves to extend some tax benefits due to expire.
"Even if the economy grows more rapidly than projected, significant long-term strains on the budget will start to intensify in the next decade as the baby boom generation begins to reach retirement age," the CBO said.