U.S. President Joe Biden on Thursday signed the bill raising the debt ceiling by $2.5 billion, narrowly averting what could have been a largely self-imposed economic disaster for the country.
“This bill will reassure all the economic markets at home and around the world that we’re going to continue to pay our debts when they are due,” Biden said at the White House.
The previous debt ceiling of $28.9 trillion has now been lifted to $31.4 trillion. The $2.5 trillion increase is expected to allow the government to operate without threat of default into 2023 – at which point lawmakers will likely go through the whole aggravating process once again.
With the Senate passing the politically contentious bill Tuesday and the House following suit Wednesday, backed by virtually all Democrats but just one lone Republican, lawmakers pushed hard up against the deadline of December 15 imposed by Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, who warned that the country could default on its obligations at any point after that date due to restrictions imposed by the debt limit, The Fiscal Times reported.
