Deputy Secretary of the Treasury Wally Adeyemo said last Wednesday the US Congress’ inaction in enabling the US to meet its obligations by raising the debt ceiling is the “greatest threat” to the US economy since the global pandemic.
“The single greatest threat to the progress the American economy has made since the pandemic is Congress’s failure to take action to meet the United States’s obligations,” Adeyemo said at the National Asian/Pacific Islander American Chamber of Commerce and Entrepreneurship (National ACE) 2023 Business Summit.
He further warned that failing to raise the debt ceiling would lead up to a recession and would severely impact small businesses and trigger a massive wave of company closures.
“Congress must take action to raise the debt limit and do what is needed to protect families and small businesses, as it has done nearly 80 times before. It is the only way to maintain the economic progress we’ve made,” he said.
Last week, the US Congressional Budget Office warned that if lawmakers fail to raise the amount of debt the country is legally allowed to build up, the US will be faced with a “significant risk” of defaulting within the first two weeks of June.
This article was originally published by Al Mayadeen English.
