Congress’ Budget Resolution Called ‘Dramatic Change’

The director of the Congressional Budget Office on Thursday hailed the budget resolution passed by Congress as “tremendous progress” against the deficit as the CBO predicted a $175-billion deficit for the fiscal year beginning Oct. 1.

Rudolph G. Penner, CBO director, acknowledged that the budget resolution “doesn’t solve the problem entirely, but compared to past history, it is a very dramatic change.”

Although Thursday’s CBO forecast is less optimistic than the $172-billion deficit anticipated by Congress when it passed the resolution, it is decidedly more upbeat than the Reagan Administration’s warnings that the shortfall is likely to exceed $200 billion.

At the same time, in the latest sign that the economy remains sluggish, the Federal Reserve reported that industrial production rose by a weak 0.2% last month while U.S. industry continued to suffer from a surge of imports.