The fiscal deficit may approach 7pc of GDP this year and needs to be reduced.

But because of the Bush administration's policies and a weak economy, deficits are now approaching unmanageable levels, as they did in the 1980's.

The group's collective deficit will approach $18 billion this year, the company estimates.

The deficit currently approaches $800 billion, or 7 percent of the U.S. G.D.P., and absorbs close to three-quarters of the savings of the rest of the world.

During the tenure of his predecessor, Beverly Sills, Mr. Keene added, the deficit approached $6 million.

The Royal Blue was no exception, as operating deficits approached $5 million annually and passenger volume declined by almost half between 1946 and 1957.

Even with the monthly surplus of $19.7 billion that Mr. Melcher expects, the resulting 1990 deficit would approach $222 billion, about what it was in 1986.

That pact calls on the commission, the European Union's executive body, to issue early warnings when a member country's deficit approaches the ceiling.

Today, the United States' deficit is approaching 7 percent.

Taxes and Table Talk When your deficit is approaching a fourth of your entire state budget, some things have to be talked about very carefully.