Congress reaches a last-minute deal to save the U.S. from a historic default
Thursday, October 17, 2013
Tweet
The Congress approved a last-minute deal on Wednesday that saved the U.S. from facing a historic default and at the same time halted a partial government shutdown.
The accord was passed after a 81-18 vote in the Democratic-led Senate and a 285-144 vote in the Republican-controlled House.
Quickly, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the new spending measure after midnight, stating that “we’ll begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people.”
Now, government employees will come back to work on Thursday, where they will receive back pay for the 16-day shutdown period.
Republicans have scaled back their efforts to force Obama to change his healthcare law, yet Tea Party allied Republicans mentioned they would find other ways to resume their battle against the Obamacare law.
However, the deal is only temporary as it would fund government only until Jan. 15 and increases the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, therefore shifting default threats till the beginning of the new year.
Now, the focus will come back to U.S. economic data, which has not been released due to the government shutdown, most notably the nonfarm payrolls.
The shutdown is expected to weigh on fourth-quarter growth which is likely to affect the Fed’s decision regarding withdrawing its non-standard measures.
Standard and Poor’s said the shutdown would shave at least 0.6 percent from fourth-quarter growth.
As of 09:00 GMT, the dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s movements versus a basket of major currencies, slipped for a third straight session to hit a low of 79.95 from a high of 80.65.
Ayman Khlifat on Twitter
Follow @aymankkhlifat
The accord was passed after a 81-18 vote in the Democratic-led Senate and a 285-144 vote in the Republican-controlled House.
Quickly, U.S. President Barack Obama signed the new spending measure after midnight, stating that “we’ll begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people.”
Now, government employees will come back to work on Thursday, where they will receive back pay for the 16-day shutdown period.
Republicans have scaled back their efforts to force Obama to change his healthcare law, yet Tea Party allied Republicans mentioned they would find other ways to resume their battle against the Obamacare law.
However, the deal is only temporary as it would fund government only until Jan. 15 and increases the debt ceiling until Feb. 7, therefore shifting default threats till the beginning of the new year.
Now, the focus will come back to U.S. economic data, which has not been released due to the government shutdown, most notably the nonfarm payrolls.
The shutdown is expected to weigh on fourth-quarter growth which is likely to affect the Fed’s decision regarding withdrawing its non-standard measures.
Standard and Poor’s said the shutdown would shave at least 0.6 percent from fourth-quarter growth.
As of 09:00 GMT, the dollar index, which tracks the dollar’s movements versus a basket of major currencies, slipped for a third straight session to hit a low of 79.95 from a high of 80.65.
Ayman Khlifat on Twitter
