	baldrige sees u s  gap dropping soon commerce secretary malcolm baldrige said the u s  deficit should start to decline soon possibly in the figures for february or march we could see the  deficit start down in february or march baldrige said in an appearance before the senate governmental affairs committee he predicted the  deficit which was billion dlrs in would decline by to billion dlrs in and in baldrige said he was making his prediction without having seen the february  figures but he said that the volume of imports has dropped beginning with the fourth quarter of and will continue to drop in this quarter the eventual turnaround in the monthly  figures will reflect the impact of the decline in the dollar baldrige said ealier treasury secretary james baker told the committee that the  deficit had levelled off but baldrige said he was more optimistic adding i think we turned the corner in february reuter 
