Congress estimates US budget deficit to fall to 158 billion dlrs

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2007

WASHINGTON (AFP) — The federal budget deficit is coming down faster than expected and will likely be reduced to 158 billion dollars for the current fiscal year, the Congressional Budget Office said Thursday.

The nonpartisan research office said the deficit for fiscal 2007, which ends September 30, would be 19 billion dollars less than it estimated in March and a decline of 90 billion dollars from last year.

"Higher-than-anticipated revenues, mostly from individual income taxes, improved the budget outlook for this year; they were partially offset by outlays from supplemental supplemental appropriations" mainly for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the CBO said.

The CBO's projected deficit is also smaller than the forecast by the White House in...