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Chuck Schumer announced the deal today in the US Capitol
Photo: Andrew Harnik / AP
In the dispute over the US debt ceiling, Democrats and Republicans have reached a temporary settlement. This was announced by the majority leader of the Democrats in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, at the start of the Senate session. He hopes to be able to vote on the proposal, which will last until the beginning of December, today. The House of Representatives would then also have to approve the regulation. The threat of default by the US government with potentially catastrophic economic consequences would thus be averted, at least temporarily.
Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell offered on Wednesday not to block an emergency increase in the debt ceiling to a certain amount until December.
The problem has only been postponed.
There are still arguments about what a solution beyond December could look like.
Still, the news of the temporary settlement had caused a sigh of relief on Wall Street.
For the first time, the USA could not have serviced its debts
Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen had repeatedly warned of a possible financial crisis and a potential recession should the US government fail to service its debts for the first time. According to your ministry, the US would have run out of money on October 18, in less than two weeks. US President Joe Biden accused the Republicans on Wednesday of playing "Russian roulette" with the US economy and warned of the consequences: "It is a meteorite that is heading to hit our economy."
Democrats and Republicans in Congress are blaming each other for the conflict, which could have serious consequences for the global economy.
A US default would damage confidence in the creditworthiness of the world's largest economy, which could trigger economic turmoil.
The last applicable debt limit expired in July.
Since then, the Ministry of Finance has taken “extraordinary measures” to prevent a payment default.
So far, Republicans and Democrats have still agreed to raise the limit - albeit often after trembling and several rounds of negotiations.
jso / dpa / Reuters