The federal deficit is “coming down rapidly,” White House economic adviser Larry Kudlow said Friday, even though the deficit has risen and is expected to continue to grow in the years ahead.
“As the economy gears up, more people working, better jobs and careers, those revenues come rolling in, and the deficit, which was one of the other criticisms, is coming down,” Kudlow said in an interview on the Fox Business Network. “And it’s coming down rapidly.”
While some indicators of economic growth are improving, the deficit is not.
The annual deficit rose from $585 billion in 2016 to $665 billion in 2017, President Trump’s first year in office.
The Congressional Budget Office expects it to continue to rise above $800 billion in 2018, a projection that takes into account the effect of the Trump tax cuts and other White House policies.
And the deficit was up by about $100 billion through the first eight months of the year, according to the CBO.
