Yellen warns Congress of nearing US default

US could default in October

clock • 1 min read

US Treasury secretary Janet Yellen has urged Congress to raise the debt ceiling to avoid US default, warning the Treasury could run out of cash as early as October.

In a letter to the House, Yellen said that while it was difficult to give a specific estimate, the Treasury's cash supplies would "most likely" be exhausted at some point in October. This would result in a US default.  "A delay that calls into question the federal government's ability to meet all its obligations would likely cause irreparable damage to the US economy and global financial markets," Yellen said in the letter. "We have learned from past debt limit impasses that waiting until the last minute to suspend or increase the debt limit can cause serious harm to business and c...

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