White House sees 2006 budget gap over $400 billion

White House sees 2006 budget gap over $400 billion

WASHINGTON, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The White House projected a 2006 budget deficit of more than $400 billion on Thursday and said the higher-than-expected forecast was blamed largely on costs of recovering from Hurricane Katrina.

The deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget, Joel Kaplan, said White House officials believed that by sticking to Bush's economic policies and spending restraint "we will return to our downward trajectory and remain on path to cut the deficit in half by 2009."

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