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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release October 28, 1998

           PRESIDENT CLINTON ANNOUNCES THE 1998 BUDGET SURPLUS:
        EXACTLY $70 BILLION -- FIRST BUDGET SURPLUS IN A GENERATION

                            October 28, 1998

President Clinton Closes The Book On A Generation of Deficits. In 1993, President Clinton put in place a three-part economic strategy to cut the deficit to help reduce interest rates and spur business investment; to invest in education, health care, and technology so that America was prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century; and to open markets abroad so that American workers would have a fair chance to compete and win across the globe. Today, America's fiscal house is in order. After nearly three decades of budget deficits, fiscal year 1998 was the first year the United States government recorded a budget surplus since 1969.

Instead of $357 Billion Deficit, $70 Billion Surplus This Year. When President Clinton took office, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projected the deficit to be $357 billion in fiscal year 1998; final 1998 numbers from the Treasury Department show a surplus of $70.0 billion.

$70.0 Billion Surplus -- The First in A Generation. In 1992, the deficit was $290 billion -- the biggest dollar deficit in American history. Last year, the surplus was $70.0 billion -- the first in a generation (1969) and the biggest dollar surplus in American history. As a share of GDP, the budget surplus was 0.8 percent last fiscal year -- the largest since the 1950s.

Six Years in A Row of Fiscal Improvement -- The First Time in U.S. History. Reaching a surplus in 1998 marks the sixth consecutive year of improved fiscal balance -- the longest period in all of American history.

Surplus Estimated To Reach $150 Billion By 2002. President Clinton promised to balance the budget by 2002. The budget not only is balanced this year -- four years ahead of schedule -- but is in surplus, which will grow to $148 billion by 2002, as projected in the Administration's mid-session review. Instead of the $579 billion deficit projected by CBO for 2002, the Administration in May 1998 projected a surplus of $148 billion for 2002 -- a $727 billion swing.

While Cutting Federal Spending To Its Lowest in a Quarter Century, President Clinton Has Expanded Critical Investments in the Future, Such As Education and Training. President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan included $255 billion in spending cuts over five years -- more than half of the total deficit reduction package. As a result, federal spending as a share of the economy has declined for each of the past six years and is now the lowest in 24 years. However, as spending has been cut in lower priority areas, President Clinton has dramatically increased funding in critical areas -- such as education and training, children, the environment, health care, and research and development.

While Eliminating The Budget Deficit, President Clinton Has Provided Tax Relief for Middle-Income Families. Because of the tax cuts for working families signed into law by President Clinton, the typical American family of four will face the lowest federal tax burden in over two decades (since 1976). President Clinton proposed this year to build upon this record to provide additional targeted, paid-for tax relief for child care, education, pensions, affordable housing, and the environment.

We Cannot Turn Back: We Have Fixed The Fiscal Deficit, Now We Need To Fix The Generational Deficit. In his State of the Union Address, President Clinton asked what should be done with any budget surpluses and he gave an historic four-word answer: "Save Social Security First." President Clinton is determined to seize this unique opportunity to strengthen Social Security for generations to come. Protecting the surplus is a key step towards enacting bipartisan Social Security reform. President Clinton defeated repeated efforts to squander the surplus and, today, it remains intact.

For America's Working Families, The Improved Fiscal Situation Means Lower Mortgage Rates And A Brighter Economic Future. Here's what the improved fiscal situation means to typical families:

Lower Deficits Mean a Lower National Debt -- $17,000 Less Debt for a Family of Four. The national debt is $1.2 trillion lower now than projected by CBO in 1993 -- that's over $17,000 less debt for each family of four in America.

Lower Deficits Mean Lower Interest and Mortgage Rates -- Saving Families Thousands. The government's share of total borrowing in U.S. credit markets has been eliminated, from nearly 60 percent just six years ago -- which, according to the Wall Street Journal (5/7), has played a "major role" in keeping down interest and mortgage rates. According to the New York Times and Money magazine, lower mortgage rates have saved the 10 million families who refinanced their home mortgages $1,000-$2,000 per year, on average. [Source: New York Times, 8/3/96; Money, 8/96]

Lower Mortgage Rates Mean Higher Homeownership. Lower mortgage rates -- along with higher family incomes, faster job growth, and the President's National Homeownership Strategy -- have helped raise the national homeownership rate to its highest level in American history (66.8 percent). [Source: Bureau of the Census.]

Lower Interest Rates Mean Faster Business Investment Growth. Under President Clinton, real business productive investment growth has averaged 12.8 percent -- the fastest since John F. Kennedy was President. [Source: Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce.]

Lower Interest Rates Mean More New Small Businesses. With lower interest rates, more people are investing in starting small businesses. As a result, in each of the last five years, we have had a record number of new small businesses. [Source: Dun & Bradstreet]

Faster Business Investment Growth Means Faster Economic Growth and More Jobs. Faster business investment growth helps expand capacity and has led to faster economic growth and more jobs under President Clinton. Since President Clinton took office, the private sector of the economy has grown 3.9 percent per year -- far stronger than under President Reagan (3.0 percent per year). The economy has added 16.7 million new jobs and unemployment has fallen to 4.6 percent. [Source: Based on data from the Bureau of Economic Analysis, Department of Commerce, and Bureau of Labor Statistics.]

Experts Agree That President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan Helped Cut the Deficit, Lower Interest Rates, Spur Business Investment, and Strengthen the Economy. The economy and the budget are now working in a virtuous circle -- lower deficits have led to lower interest rates which have led to faster business investment which led to faster growth which led to even lower deficits. Experts agree that President Clinton's 1993 Economic Plan helped create this virtuous circle.

Alan Greenspan, Federal Reserve Chairman, 2/20/96: The deficit reduction in the President's 1993 Economic Plan was "an unquestioned factor in contributing to the improvement in economic activity that occurred thereafter."

Business Week, 5/19/97: "Clinton's 1993 budget cuts, which reduced projected red ink by more than $400 billion over five years, sparked a major drop in interest rates that helped boost investment in all the equipment and systems that brought forth the New Age economy of technological innovation and rising productivity."

U.S. News & World Report, 6/17/96: "President Clinton's budget deficit program begun in 1993... [led] to lower interest rates, which begat greater investment growth (by double digits since 1993, the highest rate since the Kennedy administration), which begat three-plus years of solid economic growth averaging 2.6 percent annually, 50 percent higher than during the Bush presidency."

Paul Volcker, former Federal Reserve Chairman, Audacity, Fall 1994: "The deficit has come down, and I give the Clinton Administration and President Clinton himself a lot of credit for that... and I think we're seeing some benefits."

Fortune, 10/3/94: "[The President's] economic plan helped bring interest rates down, spurring the recovery."