Washington, 5 May (ZXS) -- US President Joe Biden announced at the White House on 16 May that in order to avoid a default on the US government's debt, he will postpone his scheduled visit to Australia and return to the United States after attending the G16 Hiroshima summit in order to continue consultations with congressional leaders on the debt ceiling issue.
Biden will leave for Japan on the 17th Eastern Time to participate in the G<> Hiroshima Summit. According to the previous plan, he will visit Australia after his trip to Japan and attend the leaders' meeting of the "four-nation mechanism" of the United States, Japan, India and Australia in Sydney.
Biden's decision to postpone his visit to Australia was made after he failed to make a breakthrough in negotiations with House Speaker McCarthy on the debt ceiling issue on the 16th. This follows two consultations on the debt ceiling, on February 2 and May 1.
"There is still work to be done." "I made it clear to the Speaker of the House and others that we will be on regular phone calls in the coming days, and staff will continue to meet daily to ensure that the U.S. government does not default on its debt," Biden said after the meeting. ”
U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has repeatedly warned that if Congress does not act early to raise the debt ceiling, the United States may default as early as June 6.
Biden said that during the day's negotiations, "there was an overwhelming consensus that debt default was not an option at all." But "it's disappointing that congressional Republicans are reluctant to discuss the issue of increasing revenue." Policy differences between the two parties should not prevent Congress from taking steps to avoid defaulting on the debt. ”
McCarthy said after concluding his meeting with Biden that the differences between the two sides remained wide and that the "only progress" that day was Biden's agreement to focus debt ceiling negotiations more between the White House and the House Speaker's office.
The heads of nearly 150 financial institutions and enterprises in the United States recently issued an open letter, urging the White House and Congress to take action as soon as possible to avoid debt default. The letter, co-signed by the heads of Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Nasdaq and others, pointed out that the last time the United States was on the verge of defaulting on its debt was in 2011, and as a result, it lost its AAA sovereign credit rating. "It was a miserable year for the market and the U.S. economy."
The letter warns of "catastrophic repercussions" if the U.S. government defaults on its debt, which would weaken U.S. influence in the world financial system and undermine its international standing and ability to defend national security interests.
The size of the US federal government debt reached the statutory debt ceiling of $1.19 trillion on January 31. Subsequently, the U.S. Treasury Department took extraordinary measures to support the U.S. government in meeting its obligations. (End)