The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office, citing a stronger than anticipated economy, predicted the U.S. budget deficit for the fiscal year ended Sept. 30 would be $23 billion, its lowest since 1974.
The agency reported to Congress that the annual U.S. budget, after more than a generation of annual deficits, will produce a $32 billion surplus in the year 2002.
The agency lowered its estimate from September, when it predicted that the deficit this past fiscal year would total $34 billion, citing the strong economy and higher-than-anticipated tax receipts this month, according to the House of Representatives’ Budget Committee.
The CBO predicted that the budget deficit will rise to $57 billion during fiscal 1998, which began Oct. 1, then drop to $52 billion in 1999, $48 billion in 2000 and $36 billion in 2001. The CBO envisions a $32 billion surplus in 2002.
While the lower deficit could provide extra money for various projects dear to many lawmakers, the estimates are still higher than some lawmakers had anticipated.
That could slow efforts to overhaul the tax code, provide additional money for transportation programs, or pay down the national debt, priorities listed by Republican lawmakers who increasingly predicted a budget surplus as early as next year.
