US Debt Default Would Be ‘Significant And Unpredictable’

At a White House news conference, US President Barack Obama says if the government cannot reach consensus on the debt limit it and defaults for the first time it will have significant and damaging consequences.

President Obama warned that the 2 August deadline to raise the country’s legal borrowing limit was a real deadline, reiterating he was not employing “scare tactics” and the deal needed to “done now.”

“If the United States government, for the first time, cannot pay its bills, if it defaults, then the consequences for the US economy will be significant and unpredictable,” he said

“All the headwinds that we’re already experiencing in terms of the recovery will get worse,” he added.

He called for new job-creation measures that are likely to further complicate talks with Republicans to bring the country’s spiralling debt under control.

The President’s call came on a day when the International Monetary Fund and the US Treasury Department urged Washington to reach a deal soon.