WASHINGTON, Nov 18: The US House of Representatives early on Friday narrowly approved a Republican-backed deficit reduction bill that trims about $50 billion in spending over five years, much of it from social programmes.

The measure, presented as a step toward Republican President George W. Bush’s goal of halving the gaping US budget deficit by 2009, passed on a 217-215 vote in the early hours of the morning after a series of concessions negotiated by moderate Republicans.

A vote on the bill was postponed last week amid internal divisions among the ruling Republican Party and opposition by Democrats.

Centrist Republicans had opposed cutting social spending while the president’s popularity is at new lows and hundreds of thousands of people remain homeless after hurricanes Katrina and Rita slammed Gulf Coast states.—AFP