US Treasury reaches debt ceiling set by Congress

The US Treasury has reached the debt ceiling set by Congress and calls on Congress to raise it again, Secretary of Finance Janet Yellen said, Report informs referring to CNBC.

The limit, a facet of American politics for over a century, prevents the Treasury from issuing new bonds to fund government activities once a certain debt level is reached. That level reached $22 trillion in August 2019 and was suspended until Saturday.

The new debt limit will include Washington’s additional borrowing since summer 2019. The Congressional Budget Office estimated in July that the new cap would likely come in just north of $28.5 trillion.

The Treasury Department notified Congress on August 2 afternoon to confirm that it’s begun the emergency measures. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen explained to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi that her department would halt regular payments to a variety of retirement funds.

“As I stated in my July 23 letter, the period of time that extraordinary measures may last this year is subject to heightened uncertainty related to the economic impact of the pandemic,” Yellen wrote in her letter. “Therefore, I respectfully urge Congress to protect the full faith and credit of the United States by acting as soon as possible.”