The U.S. might run out of funds to pay all its bills as early as
Feb. 15 after it exhausts emergency measures undertaken when it hit
the $16.4 trillion debt ceiling at the end of last month, the
Bipartisan Policy Center said Monday.
The Treasury Department has started using so-called
“extraordinary measures” to keep funding the government. Treasury
Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said Dec. 26 that “under normal
circumstances” those safety lines would last for about two months
and create about $200 billion of “headroom.”
“Based on financial data from Treasury, we estimate that the
government will be unable to pay all of its bills as early as Feb.
15,” Steve Bell, senior director of the economic policy project at
the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center, said in an e-mailed
statement Monday. “We have less time to solve this problem than many
realize.”
Republicans in Congress want to focus on spending cuts in the
current discussion over raising the debt limit, while Democrats
counter that issues including taxes have to be a part of the
negotiations.
Treasury Department spokesman Matthew Anderson Monday referred to
the Geithner’s Dec. 26 letter as the latest guidance.
The Bipartisan Policy Center seeks policy solutions in health
care, energy, national and homeland security, transportation and the
economy, according to its website.
© Copyright 2013 Bloomberg News. All rights reserved.