Wall Street, Business Groups Press Congress to Raise Debt Limit
Congress must raise the federal debt limit or risk “a massive spike in borrowing costs” for U.S. companies, more than 60 trade associations representing businesses and Wall Street told lawmakers.
“The failure to increase the statutory debt limit in a timely fashion could have a significant and long-lasting negative impact on the U.S. economy,” the groups said in a letter today to congressional leaders including Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, and House Speaker John Boehner, Republican of Ohio.
Democrats and Republicans are sparring over how much to trim the deficit and whether to extend the $14.29 trillion debt ceiling. The U.S. is scheduled to reach the limit May 16 and can keep borrowing until about Aug. 2 by taking “extraordinary measures,” Treasury Secretary Timothy F. Geithner said last week.
Those signing the letter include the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, Wall Street’s biggest lobbying group; the Financial Services Roundtable; the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Business Roundtable; the National Association of Manufacturers; and the Investment Company Institute, which represents the mutual fund industry. Organizations representing manufacturers in states including Alabama and Kentucky also signed the letter.
While the associations urged lawmakers to raise the limit, they also said that they “remain extremely concerned about the level of the federal debt and large annual budget deficits” and urged Congress to make “tough calls on U.S. spending.”
To contact the reporters on this story: Ian Katz in Washington at ikatz2@bloomberg.net; Robert Schmidt in Washington at rschmidt5@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Christopher Wellisz at cwellisz@bloomberg.net; Larry Roberts at Lroberts13@bloomberg.net
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