简体中文
U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed into law legislation that provides authority to increase the federal government's debt limit by $2.5 trillion, preventing the U.S. from defaulting on its debt for the first time.
The move came one day after Congress gave final approval to the measure that would raise the debt limit to roughly $31 trillion, which would cover the federal government's borrowing through 2023.
"We're relieved policymakers agreed to raise the debt ceiling rather than putting the country's full faith and credit at risk," Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, said Thursday in a statement.
But she also said that was way too last-minute and brought the economy too close to the brink.
MacGuineas called for more "hard work of developing a plan to start dealing with our problematic debt levels," saying both parties are responsible for America's near-record levels of debt.
The Bipartisan Policy Center, a think tank in Washington, estimated earlier this month that the federal government might be unable to pay its bills as soon as December 21 if Congress failed to raise the debt limit.
Failure to pay the nation's bills on time could send immediate ripple effects throughout the global economy, particularly during a time of economic recovery and heightened uncertainty over a new COVID-19 variant, the center warned.
The debt limit, commonly called the debt ceiling, is the total amount of money that the U.S. government is authorized to borrow to meet its existing legal obligations, including social security and medicare benefits, interest on the national debt, and other payments.
(Xinhua)
