President Barack Obama said there is “no doubt” the government needs new revenue from closing tax “loopholes” and limiting deductions, along with enacting spending cuts, to reduce the federal deficit. 

There’s “no reason why we can’t have really strong growth in 2013,” the president said in an interview with CBS television yesterday before the network’s Super Bowl broadcast. He cited a recovering housing industry, strong manufacturing and rising car sales.

Revenue could be raised through an overhaul of the tax code, he said, “and we can do it in a gradual way so that it doesn’t have a huge impact.”

“There is no doubt we need additional revenue, coupled with smart spending reductions in order to bring down our deficit,” he said. “I don’t think the issue right now is raising rates.”

Two reports last week suggested worrying signs about the economy. The Commerce Department said Jan. 30 that the gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, dropped at a 0.1 percent annual rate in the fourth quarter, the worst performance since the second quarter of 2009, when the world’s largest economy was still in the recession.