Ten days before the US public debt reached its legally defined ceiling, President Joe Biden held a “productive” meeting with Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy, but they have not yet reached an agreement that would prevent the United States from defaulting — for the first time in its history — on payments. her debts.
“I have just finished a productive meeting” with the leader of the Republican opposition, Biden said in a statement, calling for “good faith” negotiations to reach an agreement.
The Democratic president acknowledged the continuation of “differences” that their negotiating teams must resolve in just a few days.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen renewed the warning that it is “very likely” that the public treasury will run out of money after June 1.
After their bilateral meeting in the Oval Office of the White House, McCarthy told reporters, “I felt we had constructive conversations. We don’t have an agreement yet, but I felt the discussion was constructive in areas where we had differences of opinion.”
He added that the atmosphere that prevailed in the meeting this evening “was better than all previous times,” acknowledging at the same time that there were fundamental differences between them regarding raising the public debt ceiling.
There are only ten days left for the United States to raise the public debt ceiling or suspend its work, under penalty of its failure to pay its debt dues.
The Democratic administration and the Republican opposition are racing against time to avoid the possibility of the United States defaulting on its obligations after June 1.
The Republicans require that Biden agree to a significant reduction in budget expenditures in return for their agreement to raise the debt ceiling, while the Democrats accuse them of using tactics to advance their political agenda, endangering the US economy.
And the two parties have only ten days to reach an agreement and allow the United States to continue paying what it owes.
And in the event that an agreement is not reached, the country will be in an unprecedented state of default with repercussions for the US and global economies, as of June 1.
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