W.House: '09 budget situation will be 'challenging'

WASHINGTON, July 20 (Reuters) - The White House said on Monday the U.S. economy is "not at a point where anyone would expect it to be" and as a result the budget situation for the 2009 fiscal year is likely to be more challenging.

"We've seen over the course of the first six to seven months of this year a fairly rapid deterioration in the ... economy," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs told a briefing. "I expect that the budget situation is going to be even more challenging."

He denied the White House was trying to postpone bad news on the deficit by delaying a mid-year budget review until August.