U.S. Treasury Secretary Besent said on Wednesday that there is still room for the U.S. fiscal deficit as a percentage of GDP to fall to the 3% range. Besent said at an event: "The proportion of the deficit to GDP - this is a key indicator - currently starts with '5'." He added that the deficit for the fiscal year ending on September 30 was smaller than the previous year. Due to the federal government shutdown, the Treasury Department has not yet released annual deficit data. When asked if he hoped the deficit as a percentage of GDP would start with a "3", Besent replied: "Yes, this is still possible."