US Congress raises debt ceiling to $12.4 trillion
THE Senate has voted to raise the ceiling on the government debt to US$12.4 trillion. That is a US$290-billion increase over the current ceiling.
The House approved the increase last week. The Senate’s rare Christmas Eve vote, 60-39, permits the Treasury Department to issue enough bonds to fund the government’s operations and programmes until mid-February. The Senate will vote again on the politically tricky issue on Jan 20.
President Barack Obama must sign the measure into law to prevent a market-rattling, first-ever default on US obligations. The measure is needed after the government piled up a record US$1.4-trillion deficit in 2009 to counter a meltdown in financial markets and help bring the nation out of its worst recession in
seven decades.