Senate approves $ 2.5 trillion in debt
Created: 12/14/2021Updated: 12/15/2021, 12:04 AM
View of the US Senate Wing of the Capitol in Washington DC.
© Patrick Semansky / AP / dpa
Only in October did the US Congress approve an increase in the debt limit.
Now the MPs were again confronted with the looming default of the government.
Washington - The US Senate has taken a decisive step by raising the debt ceiling to prevent an imminent government default.
The Congress Chamber passed the increase on Tuesday with the vote of the Democrats.
According to US media reports, they will enable the government to borrow $ 2.5 trillion in additional debt.
The House of Representatives, in which the Democrats also have a narrow majority, has yet to approve the increase.
A vote was expected on Tuesday (local time).
The Treasury Department last warned that the government could run out of money this week.
Sufficient credit line
The government's debt ceiling was last at $ 28.9 trillion, according to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).
The new debt would therefore result in an upper limit of $ 31.4 trillion - significantly more than the US economic output of a year.
According to reports, the new credit line should be sufficient to finance government business until 2023.
This would mean that the politically sensitive issue would not have to be voted on again before the congressional election in November next year.
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The Treasury Department had warned that a default in the world's largest economy could trigger a global financial crisis and economic downturn.
The political tussle about raising the debt ceiling has been dragging on for some time.
In October, the US Congress approved an increase in the debt ceiling by 480 billion US dollars to allow more time for a longer-term solution.
The Republicans refused to support US President Joe Biden's Democrats in this.
Ultimately, they agreed to a process that would allow the Democrats to push through the Senate increase with a narrow majority on their own.
dpa