Budget Deficit Has Sunk to 15-Year Low, Republicans Say

The nation’s budget deficit sank to a 15-year low of $109 billion in fiscal 1996, two Republican lawmakers said Wednesday.

The announcement, claiming congressional credit for the drop and preempting the Clinton administration’s planned release of the figure later this month, came from Sen. Pete V. Domenici (R-N.M.) and Rep. John R. Kasich (R-Ohio), chairmen of the Senate and House budget committees.

They attributed the figure for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 to “Treasury Department data that are not expected to change significantly.”

“This is good news for American taxpayers,” Domenici said. “It shows that when Congress really wants to control spending, it can.”

Their figure, the lowest since the $79-billion deficit in 1981, would represent the fourth consecutive decline in the deficit and a 33% drop from $164 billion in 1995.

The administration in July projected the 1996 deficit at $117 billion and, a month later, the Congressional Budget Office predicted $116 billion.

Lawrence Haas, a spokesman for the Office of Management and Budget, declined to confirm the Republicans’ figure but said it was “quite conceivable” the actual figure would be lower than the summer projections.