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US deficit forecasts rise by nearly 90 billion dollars

by Staff Writers
Washington (AFP) May 11, 2009
The White House Monday raised 2009 and 2010 deficit forecasts by nearly 90 billion dollars, reflecting costs of the worst economic crisis in generations, in a finalized 3.6 trillion dollar budget.

The administration released new projections for the federal government budget for the fiscal year 2010 beginning in October, a week after announcing 17 billion dollars in deficit-reducing cuts to 121 government programs.

Federal government spending for 2010 will increase to 3.591 trillion dollars with revenue estimated at 2.333 trillion dollars, resulting in a deficit of 1.258 trillion dollars, the new tables of data show.

The updated figures also showed a 3.998 trillion dollar budget for 2009 with a deficit of 1.841 trillion dollars, also about 90 billion dollars higher than previously estimated.

Original estimates had foreseen a 1.750-trillion-dollar deficit in fiscal 2009, which ends September 30, then a decrease to 1.171 trillion dollars in 2010.

White House budget chief Peter Orszag said the Office of Management and Budget "projects that the deficit will be about 90 billion dollars higher in FY 2009 and also in 2010 than it did in February.

"The deficits in these years, now projected to be 12.9 percent and 8.5 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), respectively, are driven in large part by the economic crisis inherited by this administration," Orszag wrote.

An Obama administration official said the larger-than-originally forecast deficit was the result of lower-than-expected federal tax revenues, and higher costs for programs like unemployment insurance amid rising jobless figures.

The costs of the government bailout of the financial industry and troubled automobile industries were also a factor, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

Though the new data contained new forecasts, the budget, first revealed in February, remained on the same broad outlines, Orszag said.

"The budget continues to call for significant and long overdue investments in education, health care reform, and clean energy, while cutting the deficit in half over four years and providing a tax cut to 95 percent of working Americans."

The Obama budget contains the president's sweeping attempt to transform American economic policy, healthcare and an attempt to introduce a cap-and-trade system to fight global warming.

Republicans accuse the president of doing too little to slash the deficit and warn the administration will pile up huge debts on future generations of Americans.

The top Republican in the Senate, Mitch McConnell warned that the budget deficits being run up were unsustainable.

"It's clear that there is much more that we can do to protect our children and grandchildren from the unprecedented trillions in additional debt proposed by the administration," he said.

McConnell charged in a statement that Democrats were "adding to the national debt at a rate of more than 100 billion dollars every month" with a budget "that triples the already unsustainable public debt over the next decade."

Obama has vowed to cut the gaping budget deficit that he inherited from the Bush administration in half by the end of his mandate in 2013, warning that failure to do so could call the "American Dream" into question.

But he had said that the depths of the economic crisis mean that high government spending is vital to pulling the country out of recession, after passing an 787 billion dollar economic stimulus plan.

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HSBC says profits rise, sees 'robust' growth in China
London (AFP) May 11, 2009
Global banking giant HSBC said on Monday that profits were rising strongly on the basis of first-quarter data and it saw "robust" growth in China and India, while remaining cautious for the year. First-quarter pre-tax profits were "well ahead" of the figure for the same period of last year, the bank said, bouncing back despite the world financial crisis. The group gave a cautious outlook ... read more







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