Trump's chief economic adviser says the deficit is "rapidly shrinking", contradicting virtually all available data

Larry Kudlow heads the National Economic Council. (Bryan R. Smith / AFP / Getty Images)

Larry Kudlow, director of the National Economic Council of the White House, told Fox Business that stronger economic growth created enough new tax revenues to reduce the deficit

. one of the other critics [of the GOP tax law] – is falling, and it is falling rapidly, "Kudlow said. "This results in huge tax revenues."

It is difficult to know where Kudlow draws his numbers. The deficit from January to April was $ 161 billion, according to the Treasury, against $ 135 billion at the same time last year. And it will deteriorate further here, as the Treasury collects a large amount of tax revenue in April when taxes are due for most Americans.

Kudlow, whose office did not immediately react to the comment, may have referred to a congressional budget report from the Office earlier this week that said the long-term deficit would be lower than its estimate of 2017 partly because of revised downward estimates of health expenditures.

But it is clear that deficits will increase. and in the long run. "[T] The federal budget deficit, relative to the size of the economy, would increase considerably over the next few years, stabilize for a few years, then increase again for the remainder of the 30-year period," said the CBO. , anticipating that the percentage deficits of the economy would rise from 3.9% in 2018 to 9.5% in 2048. The agency predicts that on average the next decade, the deficit will represent 4, 9% of economic activity

. According to the 2017 tax law, deficits would increase by $ 1.27 trillion over the next decade, even including the positive effects of the law on the economy. Annual deficits force the government to borrow money. Money to finance its operations. estimates that the amount of debt that the United States will have in a decade will be almost equal to the total size of the economy.

Official data from the White House suggest that deficits also increase. It is said that the deficit increases from $ 665 billion in 2017 to $ 832 billion in 2018, and will approach $ 1 trillion a year in 2019.

"Deficits do not decrease. They're going up, "said Marc Goldwein, senior vice-chair of the Responsible Federal Budget Committee, a non-partisan think tank that advocates fiscal discipline.