U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow told global bankers and economists worried about the tide of red ink in Washington that the massive U.S. budget deficit would be halved by the end of 2008.

Snow made the pledge Tuesday at the annual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank, both of which have cited the growing U.S. trade and budget deficits as dark clouds looming over the fragile global recovery.

He called the budget deficit an "understandable" consequence of the recent recession and told delegates from 184 countries that it would be tamed through "ample growth" and "disciplined spending," having earlier ruled out tax increases as "counterproductive."

He offered few details on how the United States would reduce the deficit, which the Treasury department has said reached $400.5 billion in the first 11 months of the 2003 budget year, twice the total for the same period a year earlier.