The intelligence budget for the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30 was $43.5 billion, according to the nation’s spy chief, who disclosed the long-secret figure Tuesday because of a new law passed by Congress this year.

The law enacted several unfulfilled recommendations of the bipartisan, independent Sept. 11 commission, including one calling for public disclosure of the total intelligence budget to ensure greater scrutiny of spending.

The budget figure includes most of the 16 components of the intelligence community, such as the National Security Agency and Central Intelligence Agency. But it does not include funding for the Military Intelligence Program, which includes the intelligence operations of the military services.

The intelligence budget was last disclosed in 1997 and 1998 after a successful Freedom of Information Act lawsuit brought by the Federation of American Scientists. The total then was $26.6 billion and $26.7 billion, respectively.

The Bush administration, like its predecessors, has opposed making the intelligence budget public, saying the move could endanger national security. And the fiscal 2007 disclosure clearly made administration officials uncomfortable.