US in red with $480bn debt

THE US federal government is in store for at least eight more years of budget deficits, including a record $480 billion shortfall in 2004, congressional budget, according to analysts.

The Congressional Budget Office also warned that the numbers will become more dire if the White House gets its way on tax cuts and Congress fails to rein in spending. They said the budget outlook "has worsened substantially" since its last review in March, when it put next year's deficit at $200 billion.

Much of that is the result of subsequent acts of Congress to cut taxes and increase spending for defence and the war in Iraq, it said.