WASHINGTON – US President Barack Obama was due to unveil a 2012 budget plan on Monday, which is expected to cut domestic spending. Cuts are expected to hit home heating, community development and education, as Washington aims to cut $1.1tn (£690bn) from the US deficit over a decade. White House budget director Jack Lew told CNN that there were “scores of programmes” that were being reduced. Republicans, who control the House of Representatives, do not think the cuts go far enough in tackling the deficit. House of Representatives Speaker, Republican John Boehner, told NBC the proposed budget would “continue to destroy jobs by spending too much, borrowing too much and taxing too much”. Analysts have also wondered if cutting $1.1tn will be enough. “It’s a lot less than the Republicans wanted to see,” said Philip Poole, global head of macro investment at HSBC Global Asset Management in London. The deficit is to predicted to rise to $1.645tn in the 2011 financial year, then fall to $1.101tn in 2012. The 2012 budget is a proposal to Congress laying out the president’s policy priorities.
