WASHINGTON (CNN) - A new White House forecast projects a federal budget deficit of roughly $150 billion in the current fiscal year, up from the $106 billion in red ink the Office of Management and Budget predicted back in February, according to two administration officials.

But the White House numbers to be released Friday by OMB project that the deficit will begin to shrink beginning next year, an outlook at odds with congressional budget experts who project the federal deficit to grow again in fiscal 2003, which begins Oct. 1.

The new numbers will re-ignite the debate -- and this time in the mid-term election environment -- over why the government is back in red ink after several years of surpluses at the end of the Clinton administration.

The Bush White House blames a combination of a slowing economy and the costs of Sept. 11 and the resulting war on terrorism. Democrats say the big Bush tax cut also contributed to the change from surpluses to deficit spending.

The budget office will release its new deficit projections at a 2:30 p.m. ET news conference.

White House officials said the OMB expects that the U.S. budget will move out of deficit and toward balance by 2005, provided there still is sustained economic growth and an adherence to Bush's fiscal policies -- tax cuts and moderate government spending.

The OMB will advocate that the path to getting out of the red while still fully funding homeland security and the war on terror will be to slow the growth of government spending in all other areas from 8 percent to 2 percent, the White House official said.

"You can't have guns and butter," he added