MOSCOW, February 2 (Sputnik) — US President Barack Obama is unveiling on Monday a $3.99-trillion budget for 2016 aimed at improving the country’s infrastructure and helping the middle class, to be partially paid for by tax hikes.
The budget foresees a $474 million deficit, accounting for 2.5 percent of US gross domestic product, media reports said.
However, the White House claims it would be able to reduce deficit in the next couple of years by lowering spending, making economic improvements, and tax increases.
“We’ll help working families’ paychecks go farther by treating things like paid leave and child care like the economic priorities that they are. We’ll offer Americans of every age the chance to upgrade their skills so they can earn higher wages, with plans like making two years of community college free for every responsible student,” Obama said, in a statement ahead of the budget release as quoted by the White House website.
Obama also promised to build new roads and transit systems at a cost of a one-time 14 percent tax on nearly $2 trillion that US companies keep offshore.
In his last two years as president, Obama hopes to underline the main Democratic priorities in this budget, by focusing on middle-income US citizens.
The proposed budget, however, requires approval from the Republican-controlled Congress.
