By IANS/EFE,
Washington : There is “no way” to extend the Aug 2 deadline for Congress to raise the US debt limit, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday.
“We don’t have much time. It’s time to move,” he said after a session with Democratic senators.
While the current debt ceiling, $14.29 trillion, was actually reached May 16, the Treasury Department implemented “emergency measures” to delay the day of reckoning.
The administration now says that without congressional action, some government payments are likely to stop Aug 3.
Republicans in Congress have made increasing the debt limit contingent on sharply reducing the budget deficit, with an exclusive focus on spending cuts.
The Obama administration, however, says increased revenues must be part of a comprehensive agreement and has offered changes to entitlement programmes such as Social Security, to the dismay of some of the president’s fellow Democrats.