“(CNSNews.com) – Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the U.S. debt limit of $16.394 trillion will be met on New Year’s Eve, in a letter to Congress on Wednesday.
“I am writing to inform you that the statutory debt limit will be reached on December 31, 2012, and to notify you that the Treasury Department will shortly begin taking certain extraordinary measures authorized by law to temporarily postpone the date that the United States would otherwise default on its legal obligations,”Geithner said in the letter addressed to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.)
Geithner said “extraordinary measures” taken by the Treasury Department could create approximately $200 billion in headroom under the debt limit.
“Under normal circumstances, that amount of headroom would last approximately two months,” he said. “However, given the significant uncertainty that now exists with regard to unresolved tax and spending policies for 2013, it is not possible to predict the effective duration of these measures.”
“At this time,” Geithner continued, “the extent to which the upcoming tax-filing season will be delayed as a result of these unresolved policy questions is also uncertain. If left unresolved, the expiring tax provisions and automatic spending cuts, as well as the attendant delays in filing of tax returns, would have the effect of adding some additional time to the duration of the extraordinary measures.”
“Treasury will provide more guidance regarding the expected duration of these measures when the policy outlook becomes clearer,” Geithner said.
The news of the federal government closing in on its debt ceiling adds another dimension to the so-called fiscal cliff that will be met at the end of the year, unless Congress and the president reach an agreement in the coming days….”
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