Record-Setting Deficit Lower Than Forecast

WASHINGTON — The U.S. budget deficit for 1986 soared to a record $220 billion, easily topping last year’s $212-billion shortfall, but was a full $10 billion short of what the Reagan Administration had projected, Budget Director James C. Miller III disclosed Thursday.

Miller said through a spokesman that higher-than-anticipated revenues near the end of the year and lower spending by federal agencies accounted for the unexpected savings. The spokesman also said that projections by the White House’s Office of Management and Budget suggest that the deficit will fall by $50 billion in 1987, to the vicinity of $170 billion--even if Congress enacts no further spending cuts.