US budget deficit soars to $438b

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WASHINGTON, Oct 8 (AFP): The US government's budget deficit ballooned in fiscal 2008 to 438 billion dollars (322 billion euros), or 3.1 per cent of GDP, as the economic downturn began to bite, the Congressional budget office (CBO) said yesterday.
The estimate compares to the 162 billion dollar shortfall that represented 1.2 per cent of GDP in fiscal 2007, said the CBO, which monitors federal spending on behalf of the Senate and House of Representatives.
"That is about 31 billion dollars higher than the 407-billion-dollar deficit CBO projected this summer, primarily due to lower-than-projected revenues and higher-than-expected spending for defense and deposit insurance," it said.