The White House is running into “real differences” with the Republican opposition in budget discussions aimed at avoiding a default, a US executive acknowledged on Friday. “There are real differences between the interested parties on budget issues and the discussions will be difficult,” he declared while, according to the US press, these crucial negotiations are now suspended.
The Democratic administration and the Republican opposition are locked in a race against time to avoid a possible US default after June 1. If Congress does not raise the US debt ceiling by then, the country could miss out on its loan payments, a potentially catastrophic event for global financial markets.
“Unproductive” talks
One of the Republican negotiators, the majority in the House of Representatives, said on Friday that it was time to “take a breath” in the talks described as “unproductive” with the White House, according to US media.
On Wall Street, the stock market, which had been confident in the morning after upbeat comments from President Joe Biden and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy the day before, turned red in the middle of Friday’s session. The Dow Jones and Nasdaq Index fell 0.19% around 5:00pm GMT as bond yields eased and showed sentiment in US Treasuries slipping.
President Joe Biden, who is currently participating in a G7 in Japan where new sanctions against Moscow have been announced, must return to Washington on Sunday to try to close an agreement in principle with the Republican opposition.
Source: BFM TV
