The US Congress adopted an agreement to raise the country’s debt-ceiling just days before the US was scheduled to make its first-ever default on debt. The bill will prevent the US from suffering a disastrous default on its $31.4 trillion in debt and is already well on its road to becoming law.
Just one day after easily passing the US House of Representatives, the bill breezed through the Senate by a vote of 63-36. Before becoming a law, Joe Biden, the vice president, must sign it. According to the BBC, Biden has pledged to sign the legislation into law.
After weeks of tense deliberations, the nation finally decided to suspend the federal debt ceiling in an effort to avoid a catastrophic financial default just four days before a deadline set by the US treasury.
Debt-ceiling: The first default in American history would have resulted in the loss of $15 trillion in personal wealth
America can breathe a sigh of relief,” said Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, adding that the nation is avoiding default the consequences of which in his words would have been “catastrophic”.
“But, for all the ups and downs and twists and turns it took to get here, it is so good for this country that both parties have come together at last to avoid default,” he said.
According to AFP, the first default in American history would have resulted in the loss of $15 trillion in personal wealth, as well as millions of jobs and higher borrowing costs for mortgages and other types of debt.