The US Congressional Budget Office projected today that the federal surplus would shrink over the next 10 years to $681 billion under US President George W. Bush's budget plan, less than the $1 trillion the White House projects.
The CBO also forecast a $121 billion deficit in fiscal 2003 that starts on October 1st under Mr Bush's plan compared with the $80 billion the White House estimated, and a $51 billion deficit in fiscal 2004, compared with the $14 billion deficit that the White House predicts.
The CBO, the US Congress' non-partisan budget analyst, said an unexpected surge in the economy has brightened the near-term budget outlook, and said under current policies small projected deficits for this fiscal year and next would turn into small surpluses.
It slightly boosted its surplus outlook for fiscal 2003-2012 under current policies to $2.4 trillion from the $2.3 trillion it saw in January. It raised its projection for gross domestic product growth in the current calendar year to 1.7 per cent from the 0.8 per cent it projected in January.