“U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Adhemo says there’s no “Plan B” for federal debt ceiling payments”

(Reuters) – U.S. Deputy Treasury Secretary Adhemo said on Wednesday that the United States does not have a “Plan B” to pay off the federal debt ceiling. The U.S. government will not be able to prioritize payments if the ceiling is not raised, he said, adding that the 14th Amendment on public debt would not solve the challenges facing us.

Adeemo told CNN that talks between the Biden administration and opposition Republicans on raising the limit were “making progress” and “the goal is to reach a deal because a default is unacceptable.”

As for ratings agencies reviewing the U.S. credit rating for a downgrade, he said he hoped that would not happen, but that the dispute over the upper limit was already increasing the cost of U.S. Treasuries.

He told MSNBC that a default would send the stock market down, hurt pensioners’ savings and push up borrowing costs.

The government’s payment system was not designed to allow payment to be deferred, he said.

“We have no Plan B that can pay our creditors, our seniors, our veterans, our citizens,” he said. must be done on time,” he told CNN.