United State
government says it will reach its debt limit by mid-October unless Congress
acts quickly, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has warned.
The debt ceiling
was last raised in January. The government can no longer borrow if it is
reached.
Lew said that in
such a case it will be unable to meet obligations such as pensions, military
salaries and Medicare payments.
The country's
borrowing limit is currently capped at $16.7tn (£10.7tn).
"Extraordinary
measures are projected to be exhausted in the middle of October," Lew said
in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner and other lawmakers.
The cash balance
at that time is forecast to be about $50bn, which Lew said, would be
"insufficient to cover net expenditures for an extended period".
He said:
"Operating the government with no borrowing authority, and with only the
cash on had on a given day, would place the United States in an unacceptable
position."
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