Postal Chief Notes Deficit Cut, Predicts No Loss Next Year

WASHINGTON —  Postal Chief Paul N. Carlin told a Senate panel Friday that the Postal Service has cut its 1985 deficit in half and expects to break even next year.

Carlin also reported a phenomenal increase in use of the nine-digit ZIP codes, and told the Governmental Operations Committee that he will ask the Postal Service Board of Governors later in the fall for even greater rate concessions to expand that service.

Carlin said that at the start of the year, the Postal Service forecast a deficit of $750 million. Since then, he noted, the price of a first-class stamp has been raised 10%, from 20 cents to 22 cents, and the deficit forecast has fallen to $323 million. He said the actual deficit should be even less once the fiscal 1985 books are closed.