The U.S. government is most likely to have insufficient cash to meet all its financial obligations sometime between Oct. 15 and Nov. 4 if the federal borrowing limit isn’t raised, according to a new projection released Friday by the Bipartisan Policy Center.
The projection from the think tank in Washington comes as Democratic and Republican lawmakers remain locked in a standoff over lifting the debt limit. The Bipartisan Policy Center previously estimated the U.S. government’s “X Date” would come at some time between mid-October and mid-November.
“No one can be certain of the X Date, but we know it’s coming within a matter of weeks,” said Shai Akabas, the center’s director of economic policy,
in a news release. “The U.S. government risks missing or delaying critical bills that will come due in mid- and late-October that millions of Americans rely on, from military paychecks and retirement benefits to advanced child tax credit payments.”
Other analysts have said Congress “will at some point increase the debt ceiling, but it may require the pressure of a technical default and market sell-off to get there.”
Related: Washington is ‘playing a dangerous game with the debt limit,’ and ‘Americans would pay for default for generations, says Moody’s Zandi
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican, has argued repeatedly that Democratic lawmakers ought to go it alone to raise the debt ceiling, similar to how they’re working to pass a $3.5 trillion spending plan without GOP votes. Democrats maintain that the raise should happen through a standard process and draw bipartisan support, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, the California Democrat, saying it’s paying “the Trump credit card.”
U.S. stocks
DJIA,
+0.10%
SPX,
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traded mixed Friday, following a two days of gains.
