Biden urges Republicans to take debt default off the table, warns interest rates will rise – World
Washington: US President Joe Biden urged House Speaker Kevin McCarthy on Monday to take the prospect of an unprecedented US debt default off the table, warning it would result in skyrocketing credit card and mortgage rates.
“America is not a dead nation. We have never defaulted on debt,” Biden said at a small business event at the White House.
He said the threat of default by some Republicans in Congress was “wholly irresponsible” and that it was necessary to take that threat “off the table.”
“It will lead to higher interest rates, higher credit card rates, skyrocketing mortgage rates,” Biden said.
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“The most immediate thing we can do is ensure the continued dependability of our economy and financial system. The most important thing we have to do in that regard is to make sure the Speaker of the House is at risk of defaulting on the national debt.” . off the table,” he said.
The US House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill to raise the government’s $31.4 trillion debt limit that includes sweeping spending cuts over the next decade.
While the bill is not expected to win Senate approval, McCarthy hopes to entice Biden into talks on spending cuts, even as the White House and congressional Democrats push to raise the debt ceiling without conditions. Are.
If Congress fails to act, and financial markets are already showing warning signs, the US Treasury Department could run out of ways to pay its bills in a matter of weeks. The 2011 impasse led to a downgrade in the government’s credit rating, which raised borrowing costs and hit investment.
McCarthy, speaking during a visit to Jerusalem, said he was concerned about the debt ceiling, but the only way to solve the problem was for Biden to negotiate.
“We have to come together to solve this,” he said. “I’m looking forward to the president changing his mind and having a conversation with us.”
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