US Vice-President Joe Biden has predicted a debt limit increase bill will pass Congress.
‘I am confident that this will pass,’ Biden told reporters after a meeting with Democrats in the House of Representatives.
Saying he went to Capitol Hill to explain the deficit reduction and debt limit increase legislation he helped to broker, Mr Biden added that under different circumstances ‘we would be talking about job creation, infrastructure (investment)’.
Democrat and Republican leaders in the United States have reached a preliminary agreement to reduce the US deficit, raise the debt ceiling and avoid default.
The measures call for a cut in spending by about $900 billion over 10 years and also includes a provision whereby a congressional committee will be responsible for finding at least $1.5 trillion more to trim.
The proposed deal is being considered by both Houses of Congress later today and could still face considerable opposition.
President Barack Obama announced the breakthrough in the early hours of the morning and urged politicians to give the plan their backing.
While the deal comes just in time to avoid a catastrophic default, Washington and investors will be closely watching to see if it goes far enough to convince credit rating agencies to let the US keep its coveted triple-A credit rating.
The Democratic-led Senate is expected to pass the deal which raises the debt ceiling and cuts about $2.4 trillion from the deficit over the next decade.
But it may face tougher opposition in the House of Representatives where both conservative supporters and liberal lawmakers have expressed dissatisfaction with the agreement.
Republicans had insisted on deep spending cuts before they would consider raising the $14.3 trillion limit on US borrowing, turning a normally routine legislative matter into a dangerous game of brinkmanship.
After weeks of acrimonious impasse and with the final outcome hinging on support from recalcitrant lawmakers, Mr Obama pressured Congress to pass the deal.
‘I want to urge members of both parties to do the right thing and support this deal with your votes over the next few days,’ Mr Obama said in a televised address at the White House last
night.
But Mr Obama, like congressional leaders, noted that it was not the deal that he would have preferred but it was a compromise.
