US President Joe Biden said on Sunday that he remains “optimistic” about reaching an agreement with the Republican majority in the House of Representatives to raise the debt ceiling and avoid a default.
“I remain optimistic because I am a born optimist, but I really believe that there is a desire on both their part and on our part to reach an agreement. I think we will be able to do it,” he told reporters during a bike ride near his home. house in the state of Delaware.
The Biden government warned on Sunday that the United States would enter “in recession”, which could cause the loss of “millions of jobs” if an agreement on raising the debt ceiling is not finalized.
“If Congress can’t raise the debt ceiling before default, we’re going into a recession and it’s going to be catastrophic,” Willy Adeyemo, assistant secretary of the Treasury, said on CNN.
Such a situation could cause the loss of “millions of jobs,” he added.
The government and financial institutions have been alerting for several weeks about the risk of a debt default starting in June, if an agreement is not reached in Congress.
Democrats and Republicans maintain a hard fight on the matter, since the Republicans reject, for now, lifting it without massive budget cuts, which Biden rejects.
Adeyemo insisted on Sunday on the efforts made by the president, who unveiled in March a plan that foresees “a deficit reduction of 3 trillion dollars over ten years.”
The representative to the Treasury also welcomed the “constructive” dialogues underway between the parties.
This week a new meeting should be held between Biden and the leaders of Congress on the matter.
The debt of the first world economy reached 31 trillion dollars on January 19, the ceiling from which the country can no longer issue new loans to finance itself.
The default, which could occur from the beginning of June, could weigh down the world economy.