WASHINGTON, Feb 5: US Treasury Secretary John Snow on Wednesday said he had been a “hawk” on deficits in the past but believed they were necessary now to spur faster economic growth.

“I have been a hawk on deficits in the past ... when we were in an entirely different world,” Snow told the House Budget Committee, in one of several hearings in the coming days at which he and other administration officials will defend President George W. Bush’s budget proposal and nearly $700 billion, 10-year plan of tax cut measures.

But the former rail executive, sworn into office late on Monday, said the economy was in a recovery that was “a little wobbly” and needed help now.

The budget proposal, released on Monday, envisaged deficits of $304 billion for the current fiscal year and $307 billion next year, eclipsing a 1992 record of $290 billion in dollar terms. Over the next five years, the White House expects the shortfall would amount to more than $1.08 trillion, a dramatic shift from 2001 government forecasts for 10-year budget surpluses totalling $5.6 trillion.

Snow faced aggressive questioning about the forecast deficits, which some committee members noted contrasted sharply with the surpluses that once had been foreseen in sufficient abundance to pay off the nation’s debt.

“We didn’t squander a surplus,” Snow replied. “We never had it. It was a forecast.”

He said that an unexpected economic slowdown and a sharp slide in stock prices that cut government revenues were largely to blame for the projected budget gap.

Snow was pressed repeatedly to say why he felt deficits projected by the Bush administration were not troublesome and to spell out a path for a return to budget surpluses.

“Deficits ... regrettable as they are, are sometimes necessary for carrying on the business of the country,” Snow said. He said the cost of conducting the war against terror also added to the drain on government coffers.

Snow said the best way for the country to work its way out of a prolonged deficit position was by having the economy grow at a faster pace, something he said would be helped by approval of Bush’s economic stimulus plan.

The new Treasury chief was also scheduled to appear before the Senate Finance Committee later on Wednesday — part of an intense round of appearances as he settles into his new role as chief economic spokesman, replacing former Treasury Secretary Paul O’Neill, who quit under pressure in December.

—Reuters