WASHINGTON (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 19th October, 2021) The US Treasury Department will employ certain extraordinary measures through December 3 to avoid hitting the temporarily-extended debt ceiling, Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said in a letter to congressional leaders on Monday.
"The recent increase in the debt limit provides only a temporary reprieve, and Treasury will need to use certain extraordinary measures through December 3," Yellen said.
Congress passed a measure on Wednesday to increase the debt limit through December 3, providing a high degree of confidence that the Treasury Department will continue to finance the operations of the government up until that date, Yellen said. It is imperative that Congress acts to increase or suspend the debt limit in a way that provides longer-term certainty, she added.
Congress passed the temporary debt limit extension last week just days away from the point at which the government would default on its debt - a scenario that Yellen said could cause an economic crisis of enormous proportions.
Congressional leaders will have until December 3 to negotiate and pass another way to avoid hitting the debt limit, lest they risk default again then.
