$219 billion federal budget deficit projected by the CBO for FY2008

The Gov Docs Guy blog reports that an increase in the federal budget deficit for 2008 is projected by the Congressional Budget Office (CBO):

The [CBO] projects that “after three years of declining budget deficits, a slowing economy this year will contribute to an increase in the deficit,” according to its new report, The Budget and Economic Outlook: Fiscal Years 2008 to 2018 (pdf, 1.9mb).

“Under an assumption that current laws and policies do not change, CBO projects that the budget deficit will rise to 1.5 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2008 from 1.2 percent in 2007,” the report said. That translates to an increase in the deficit from $163 billion last year to $219 billion in 2008 (see Summary Table 1). In addition, “[e]nactment of legislation to provide economic stimulus or additional funding for military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan could further increase the deficit for this year,” the report said.