WASHINGTON, Rabi’II 09, 1437, January 19, 2016, SPA -- The U.S. budget deficit will rise to $544 billion this year, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) said Tuesday, an increase over prior estimates that can largely be contributed to tax cuts and spending increases passed by Congress last month. The CBO estimate also sees the economy growing at a significantly slower pace this year than it predicted just a few months ago. It projects that economic growth will slow to 2.7 percent this year; it foresaw 3.0 percent growth in 2016 in last summer’s prediction. Over the coming decade, CBO predicts deficits totaling $9.4 trillion, up $1.5 trillion from its August estimate, with much of the increase mostly due to last month’s tax legislation, which permanently extended several tax cuts that Congress typically had renewed temporarily. --SPA 03:44 LOCAL TIME 00:44 GMT www.spa.gov.sa/w