Tax Refunds, Military Spending Boost Deficit

The federal government recorded a significantly higher budget deficit in March, reflecting increased tax refunds and military spending. The $22.4-billion deficit was 62% higher than the $13.8 billion recorded a year earlier, the Treasury Department said. Still, the government remains on track to register a bigger surplus for all of fiscal 1999 than the $69.2 billion for 1998, its first surplus since 1969. For the first six months of fiscal 1999, which began Oct. 1, the deficit totals $49.9 billion, up 28.5% from the first half of fiscal 1998. The Clinton administration is forecasting a surplus of $79.3 billion for all of 1999.