U.S. must not default on its obligations - Obama
WASHINGTON, July 16, Xinhua:
The United States must not default on its obligations, and
policymakers should strike a debt ceiling deal in a timely manner and
improve the nation’s fiscal sustainability, President Barack Obama said
Friday.
Obama told reporters at a White House press conference that he was
encouraged that both parties had recognized the importance of addressing
the debt limit, adding that debt negotiators need to find common ground
in the near term.
Obama stressed that he was still pushing for a big deal, but the debt
reduction should be carried out in a balanced approach.
The borrowing limit, currently at 14.29 trillion U.S. dollars, was
reached on May 16. The U.S. Treasury Department warned that the world’s
largest economy would default without an agreement to lift the limit by
Aug. 2. Obama urged that the nation was running out of time to ink a
deal on raising the borrowing capacity and to secure the nation’s
top-notch credit rating.Rating agency S&P cautioned Thursday there was a
50-percent chance it would downgrade the U.S. government’s credit rating
within three months due to the standstill of the debt talks and “
significant uncertainty to the credit worthiness” of the issuer.
Eighty percent of the Americans support a balanced debt reduction
plan including budget cutting and revenue increase efforts, Obama added.
Obama reiterated that the U.S. fiscal house should be in good order, but
the nation should also continue making investments on key areas
including education and research to bolster the economic growth over the
long run. |