The US president has called on Republicans to stop “playing Russian roulette” with the US economy, putting the US at risk of default.
A potential default, which could occur if the country’s Congress does not agree to raise the public debt ceiling, would jeopardize the status of the dollar as the world’s reserve currency. This was stated by US President Joe Biden on Monday, speaking at the White House.
“The inability to raise the debt ceiling will call into question Congress’ readiness to meet our commitments, which we have already made, not new ones. It will undermine the reliability of Treasury securities and threaten the dollar’s status as a world reserve currency,” he said.
“America’s credit rating will be lowered, interest rates will rise,” Biden added, urging his Republican political opponents to stop resisting Congress from raising the public debt ceiling. “Republicans are not only refusing to do their job, they are threatening to use their power to keep us from doing their job – to save the economy from a catastrophic event. We are simply asking them not to use procedural loopholes to prevent us from doing work they do not do. You do not want to help save the country and then get off the road so as not to destroy it, “the US president added.
“They must stop playing Russian roulette with the US economy,” the US leader said.
Biden said he could not guarantee that the United States would not repay its debt. The American leader stressed that the solution to this problem will depend on the actions of Republicans in Congress.
He was asked if it was possible for the United States to fail to repay its debts because the US Congress would not suspend the national debt limit. “I can’t believe that the result will be exactly like that, because the consequences will be so terrible. I don’t believe it. But can I guarantee it (that there will be no default)? If I could, I would do it, but I can’t.” Biden replied.