US President Obama, Senate and House of Representatives leaders have agreed to a deal at the 11th hour to re-open the US government and raised the debt limit. The bare bones of the deal will enable an extension to the current debt ceiling until Feb 7 and keep the government open until Jan 15, 2014. The accord was unveiled a day after Fitch Ratings put the United States AAA sovereign ratings on ratings watch, citing the government’s inability to raise the debt ceiling in a timely manner.
The bill would also set the stage for a budget conference in December, pay furloughed federal workers back-pay and allow the Treasury to re-load its “extraordinary measures.” This re-loading (or intra-governmental borrowing used to avoid the debt ceiling) would allow the Treasury to continue to pay its bills beyond the Feb 7 deadline, so that the next time the Treasury would be faced with a possible default is summer 2014.
Limited time offer:
Just RM5 per month.
