Economy : US rushes to avert disastrous default

The White House and top lawmakers scrambled for a deal to stop the world’s richest country from a default on its debt

WASHINGTON: The White House and top lawmakers scrambled on Sunday for a deal to stop the world’s richest country from an unthinkable and ruinous default on its debt, hours ahead of the opening of Asian financial markets. “We may have a few stressful days coming up, and stressful for the markets of the world and the American people,” US President Barack Obama’s chief of staff, William Daley, told CBS television as the stalemate dragged on. “But in the end there’s no question in my mind the government of America will not default,” he said. But Obama, his Democratic allies and Republican foes gave little sign of progress toward a compromise to raise the $14.3 trillion limit on borrowing by the US government, which will run out of cash to pay its bills August 2.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th,  2011.