41.   During his campaign, president Jacques Chirac had pledged to cut taxes as well as reducing budget deficits and fighting unemployment.

42.   During elections last fall, Hashimoto declared that reducing the deficit was his top priority.

43.   During his campaign, President Jacques Chirac had pledged to cut taxes as well as reduce budget deficits and fight unemployment.

44.   EU finance ministers separately endorsed plans by Portugal and Spain on how they will reduce their deficits.

45.   European nations are required to reduce their deficits to that level by the end of this year to be able to join the monetary union.

46.   Even so, the government is making progress in reducing its deficit and paying down debt.

47.   Expectations that European central banks may sell gold reserves to reduce budget deficits to qualify for the European single currency, or euro, also shadows the market.

48.   Federal actions to reduce the deficit appear to have strengthened the economy, even as the strong economy has made it easier for Washington to balance the budget.

49.   Failure to reduce deficits also would increase pressure on the Fed to let inflation soar out of control, he said.

50.   For his part, Clinton was given the line-item veto to reduce the deficit.