Hill, OMB Estimates $38 Billion Apart; '91 Deficit $138 Billion or $100 Billion
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) will estimate this week that the federal budget deficit for fiscal 1991 will be $138 billion, congressional sources said.</br></br>The figure is substantially higher than the roughly $100 billion deficit projected by the Bush administration, the sources said. Both estimates are far higher than the $64 billion deficit target for fiscal 1991 set by the Gramm-Rudman-Hollings budget law. That law requires that enough spending cuts and revenue-raising measures be taken to achieve a $64 billion deficit in fiscal 1991, which starts Oct. 1.</br></br>The CBO estimates provide fresh evidence that the nonpartisan congressional agency is far less optimistic about the budget outlook than is the president's Office of Management and Budget. The estimates are based on projections that assume current spending and tax policies do not change.</br></br>While the CBO figures are sure to be cited by administration critics who think that the OMB projections are too rosy, their practical impact on the budget process is limited.</br></br>The congressional agency plays only an advisory role in determining whether the deficit targets set by Gramm-Rudman-Hollings have been breached. By law, it is the OMB estimates that are used at the beginning of each fiscal year to determine whether spending must be cut across the board to meet the law's requirements.