THE ECONOMY
Federal Deficit Totals $144 Billion So Far in Fiscal Year: The amount probably will be the smallest annual imbalance in seven years, officials said. The Treasury Department said the red ink for the first 11 months of fiscal 1996 is 15.9% below the $171.1 billion during the same period of 1995. The deficit probably will end the year less than $144 billion, because September usually winds up with a surplus from quarterly income tax payments. In addition, the Treasury said some payments normally made on Sept. 1 were mailed in August this year to avoid a weekend delay. It would be the fourth straight annual decline after the deficit peaked at a record $290.4 billion in 1992 and probably the lowest since $152.5 billion in fiscal 1989.
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