But how significant is the coalition's first Budget in the context of the total deficit, and the previous government's Budget plans?
As the next chart shows, the total deficit reduction that we have accomplished since 1993 has come 52 percent from spending, and 48 percent from revenues.
WHITEHOUSE: Franklin D. Raines Testimony to House Budget Committee, 02/03/1998 | The White House
Once the final figures are calculated for 1998, the total trade deficit is likely to be far worse.
What matters here is not the total budget deficit but the primary one.
In order to control the total government deficit the central government obviously needs to be able to control the spending of the provinces.
Not the balanced approach that we would ideally want to see and, therefore, not of the total size of deficit reduction that we would want to see.
Fair himself had matched Montana's scoring total at that point and the deficit only got bigger at the half when Triche hit a floater and then scored on a breakaway dunk off a block by Baye Moussa Keita to make it 38-15 at the break.
Even with our higher deficit, Britain's total financing need will be well under 16% per cent of GDP.
In several recent quarters, the shrinkage of the trade deficit contributed more than the total growth in real gross domestic product.
Raising the debt ceiling without a big fuss will allow a more rational debate about spending and taxing and the size of the deficit and the additions to total debt.
However, net negative government saving (the budget deficit) overwhelms the others and make total national saving negative.
These policies then increase the budget deficit but are also intended to increase total demand in the economy, driving it back toward full employment.
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But others, including Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the finance minister, are insisting that at least part of the bounty must be used to reduce the public debt, whose interest payments now gobble up nearly a fifth of total tax revenue, and to trim the public deficit (to a planned 2.3% next year) against some future rainy day.
In other words, if the price of Chinese goods to American consumers increased by 21 percent (on average) and Americans reduced their consumption of Chinese goods by less than 21 percent, then demand would be considered inelastic, the price effect would dominate, and total import value would rise (adding to the trade deficit).
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In a vicious circle, high rates depress investment, add to the government's borrowing costs (which total some 5% of GDP) and thus its fiscal deficit (of over 2% of GDP).
But authorities are also on the wrong side of long-term, demographic pressures that have nothing to do with tackling the deficit - because people are living longer, the total cost of looking after older people is increasing relentlessly.
The deficit is the difference between the public sector's total receipts and its total expenditure over a given period.
Mixing up the difference between the country's total accumulated debts and one year's additional borrowing (the deficit) is something politicians - and, yes, even senior BBC broadcasters - do depressingly often.
The Indian government wants to curb imports of gold to try to help reduce the country's current account deficit, which hit a record 5.4% of total economic output between July and September last year.
Despite this looming deficit and the glaring price signal, all the big companies except Total produced less oil and gas in the third quarter than they did in the same period last year.
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In 2011, the United States had an overall trade deficit, but the related party trade imbalance represented 95% of the total.
Their annual budget deficit should be below 3% of their gross domestic product (GDP - the total output of their economy).
Also, the government should not be destroying what capital is created by deficit financing, which usually results in consumption at best, and, more often, total waste.
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That is the total of the average annual accrued liabilities of just the two largest entitlement programs, plus the annual cash deficit.
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