The Obama administration acknowledged Monday that the federal budget deficit will grow to a record $1.556 trillion in the current fiscal year ending in September. The White House had earlier forecast a $1.5 trillion budget deficit for fiscal-year 2010 as the administration spent heavily to stimulate the economy to contain a serious financial crisis that plunged the country into recession. Figures released Monday under President Barack Obama's budget request for fiscal-year 2011, which starts October 1, show that the 2010 deficit surpassed the record deficit of $1.41 trillion in 2009. Measured against the size of the economy, the $1.56 trillion deficit in 2010, would equal 10.6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP). Accumulating deficits beyond this year-while expected to decline-would double federal debt held by the public to $15.69 trillion in seven years and push it even higher to $18.57 trillion in 2020. The 2010 budget figures foresee the deficit declining to $1.27 trillion in 2011 and falling to $828 billion in 2012 and to $727 billion the following year-or 4 percent of GDP-by the end of Obama's term in 2013. The $3.83 trillion budget the White House will send Congress on Monday includes a three-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending, a $100 billion job-creation plan, and extra education and homeland-security spending. The Obama administration said the 2011 budget seeks to deal with the aftermath of the financial, fiscal, housing, and unemployment crises, and to put the United States onto a path of long-term economic security.
