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Aruba’s ONLY English newspaper
A r u b a ’ s O N L Y E n g l i s h n e w s p a p e r
Biden showcases deficit progress in bid to counter critics

By JOSH BOAK and FATIMA HUSSEIN
Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden on Wednesday
highlighted new figures showing the government's red ink
will grow less than expected this year and the national
debt will shrink this quarter as he tried to counter criticism
of his economic leadership amid growing dismay over in-
flation going into midterm elections that will decide con-
trol of Congress. Biden, embracing deficit reduction as a
way to fight inflation, stressed that the dip in the national
debt would be the first in six years, an achievement that
eluded former President Donald Trump despite his promis-
es to improve the federal balance sheet."The bottom line
is the deficit went up every year under my predecessor
before the pandemic and during the pandemic. It has
gone down both years since I've been here," Biden said.
"Why is it important? Because bringing down the deficit is
one way to ease inflationary pressures."
The president is placing a renewed emphasis on reducing
the deficit — which is the gap between what the nation
spends and what it takes in — in order to blunt Republi-
can criticism that the $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief pack- President Joe Biden speaks in the Roosevelt Room of the White House, Wednesday, May 4, 2022,
age has left the U.S. economy worse off. in Washington.
Continued on Page 2 Associated Press