WASHINGTON (AFP) - Trimming the record US budget deficit should be the top economic priority for the second term of President George W. Bush, a survey of economists showed.
A Wall Street Journal survey of 55 economists showed more than half felt the budget deficit would be the biggest economic challenge for the second term of the Bush administration.
The deficit -- which hit a record 413 billion dollars in the just-ended fiscal year -- was placed ahead of social security, health care and tax reform in the survey.
On Wednesday, International Monetary Fund managing director Rodrigo Rato voiced similar concerns about the US budget, saying the imbalance creates risks for the global economy.
"We have been insisting that the external US deficit creates a risky situation in the global economy," Rato said.
"This situation can be corrected by economic policies in the US and also in other countries, among them Europe, or through the markets without governments intervening ... We believe that the US government, with which we have had recent meetings, fully agrees with this analysis and is conscious of the need to implement a fiscal policy that will reduce the public deficit in the next few years consistently throughout this next administration."
11/11/2004 - 20:15 GMT - AFP