Joe Biden is confident that he will reach an agreement with Republicans to raise the debt ceiling

US President Joe Biden said Sunday that he remains “optimistic” about reaching an agreement with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default.

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“I remain an optimist because I am a congenital optimist, but I really think there is a desire on both their part and ours to come to an agreement. I think we’ll be able to do it,” he told reporters during a bike ride near his Delaware home.

Biden assured that negotiations with the Republican opposition “are advancing” to raise the debt ceiling and prevent the country from entering into suspension of payments, although there is still no agreement.

The president will meet again next week with the Republican and Democratic leaders of Congress after he went topostponed the meeting that was scheduled for Friday.

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Before boarding a flight to the state of Delaware, Biden told reporters that the talks “are moving forward” and stressed that “There has to be” an agreement before June 1.

“We’re not at the tipping point yet. There’s been real discussion about some changes that can be made, but we’re not there yet,” he said.

Government warns of serious economic consequences

The United States reached the debt ceiling of 31.4 trillion dollars established by Congress on January 19.

Since then, the Government has been drawing on its reserves to pay off the debts it has contracted, but the Treasury Department estimates that the resources will end on June 1, after which the country would be entering into suspension of payments for the first time in its history. .

Biden received Tuesday in the Oval Office of the White House the speaker of the House of Representatives, Republican Kevin McCarthy; as well as the Republican leader of the Senate, Mitch McConnell; and House and Senate Democratic leaders Chuck Schumer and Hakeem Jeffries to address this issue.

The Biden administration warned on Sunday that The United States would enter a “recession”which could cause the loss of “millions of jobs” if an agreement on raising the debt ceiling is not finalized.

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“If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling before default, we will enter a recession and it will be catastrophic“Willy Adeyemo, assistant secretary of the Treasury, said on CNN.

Such a situation could cause the loss of “millions of jobs,” he added. The government and the Financial institutions have been alerting for several weeks about the risk of a default on the debt as of June, if an agreement is not reached in Congress.

Republicans and Democrats have yet to reach an agreement

Democrats and Republicans hold a hard pulse in this regard, since the Republicans reject, for now, lifting it without massive budget cuts, which Biden rejects.

Republicans, who have a majority in the lower house, want to link a rise in the debt ceiling to major spending cuts on some of Biden’s flagship shows, something both the White House and Democrats reject.

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Adeyemo insisted on Sunday on the efforts made by the president, who unveiled in March a plan that foresees “a deficit reduction of 3 trillion dollars over ten years.”

The representative to the Treasury also welcomed the “constructive” dialogues underway between the parties. A new meeting should be held this week. between Biden and the leaders of Congress on the matter.

The default, which could occur from the beginning of June, could weigh down the world economy.

INTERNATIONAL WRITING
With information from AFP and EFE