HARTFORD, Conn. — Gov. Dannel P. Malloy's budget director says his office is projecting a small $5.7 million deficit in Connecticut's main spending account, much less than $78 million projected by the General Assembly's budget office.

Ben Barnes, secretary of the Office of Policy and Management, provided the Democratic administration's estimate in a letter sent Thursday to State Comptroller Kevin Lembo.

Barnes says the estimated deficit in the roughly $18 billion account "does not represent a material deviation from the budget plan," considering the new fiscal year only began July 1. He says it's partly offset by $3.4 million in higher-than-expected revenues.

House Minority Leader Themis Klarides, a Republican says the Malloy administration's numbers are "at odds with what every other reasonable observer knows." She says OPM wants to "confuse voters."