Obama announces deal on debt limit

US President Barack Obama

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/191750.html

The US lawmakers reach an agreement on raising the ceiling on the country's public debt limit, which President Barack Obama says is not the deal of his choice.

On Sunday, the chief executive announced the accord, saying "First part of this agreement will cut about one trillion dollars in spending over the next 10 years…cuts that both parties had agreed to early on in this process."

"The result would be the lowest level of annual domestic spending since Dwight Eisenhower was president," he added, referring to the 34th US president's 1953-1961 tenure.

"Is this the deal I would have preferred? No," Obama said.

The president urged the lawmakers to approve the plan in the next few days to end, what he called, a crisis imposed by Washington over the rest of America.

The agreement came after interminable wrangling on the Capitol Hill on the period of time the country needs to lift the limit to avoid failing to repay its staggering USD 14.3 trillion debt.

There are just two days left to lift the cap with the prospect of a default threatening to increase interest rates, devaluate the dollar and rattle the economies across the world.

The US officially hit its debt ceiling on May 16.

Washington owes about 47 percent of the money to foreigners. The biggest creditors are respectively China, Japan and the United Kingdom