Yellen Says Raising Debt Limit Is Only Solution to Avoid Fiscal Crisis

  • Treasury chief won’t comment on GOP extension proposal
  • It will be a ‘calamity’ not to increase ceiling, she says
Could a Trillion-Dollar-Coin End the Debt Debate?
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Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the only solution to avoid a US default crisis is for Congress to increase the federal debt limit, avoiding engaging with other proposed stopgap measures including short-term extensions or spending cuts.

“It’s overly necessary for Congress to raise the debt limit, and I hope they do so in a timely way before we come to a crisis,” she said in an interview Thursday. “I’m not going to comment on rumors about what they are or are not considering,” she said, referring to a proposal mulled by House Republican leaders to push the federal debt ceiling until Sept. 30.