(Washington) US President Joe Biden said on Sunday he remains “optimistic” about the possibility of reaching an agreement with his Republican opponents to raise the debt ceiling and avoid the default that his administration says, would have “catastrophic” consequences.
“I remain optimistic because I am a congenital optimist, but I really think there is a will on their part and ours to reach an agreement. I think we will get there,” Biden told reporters during a bike ride near his home in Delaware.
Joe Biden’s government warned on Sunday that the United States would enter “a recession” which could cause the loss of “millions of jobs” if an agreement on raising the debt ceiling did not succeed.
“If Congress fails to raise the debt ceiling before the default, we will enter a recession and it will be catastrophic,” Wally Adeyemo, deputy secretary of the Treasury, warned once again on CNN.
Such a situation could cause the loss of “millions of jobs”, he insisted.
The government and financial institutions have been warning for several weeks about the risk of default that the country runs from June, if an agreement is not found in Congress.
Democrats and Republicans are waging a standoff over the subject of the debt ceiling, with Republicans refusing, for the moment, to raise it without massive budget cuts, which Joe Biden refuses.
Mr. Adeyemo highlighted Sunday the efforts made by the president who unveiled in March a plan providing for “a reduction of the deficit of 3000 billion dollars over ten years”.
The Treasury representative also welcomed the “constructive” discussions underway between the different parties.
A new meeting between President Joe Biden and the leaders of Congress is due to be held at the beginning of the week on this subject.
The debt of the world’s largest economy reached 31 trillion dollars on January 19, the ceiling beyond which the country can no longer issue new loans to finance itself.
Without an agreement, the United States will find itself in default of payment from the beginning of June, recalled Friday the service of the budget of the Congress (CBO).
This unprecedented situation, in which the country could no longer pay its bills and its civil servants, could weigh down the world economy.