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| The US Congress agreed on a temporary budget bill. (Source: Getty Images) |
The bill would avert a partial US government shutdown starting next weekend.
According to Politico , CNN and Punchbowl , leaders in the US Congress have agreed on a "continuing resolution" (CR) to provide short-term funding for the government.
Current US funding will run out on January 19 for some federal agencies, including the Department of Transportation, while others, such as the Department of Defense, can only sustain operations until February 2.
These two deadlines will be extended to March 1 and March 8 respectively.
On January 7, Democrats and Republicans reached an agreement on a $1.59 trillion federal spending cap for fiscal year 2024.
However, if Congress fails to pass the relevant bills by the January 19 deadline, federal government agencies will begin to shut down.
According to a report just released by the US Treasury Department, the budget deficit in the first quarter of fiscal 2024 (October-December 2023) increased by 21% compared to the same period last year, reaching 510 billion USD. The main reason for the increase in the budget deficit in the world's largest economy is due to higher spending, including interest payments on public debt.
Interest on public debt in the first quarter of 2024 increased by $78 billion compared to the same period last year, reaching $310 billion. This is also the highest interest on public debt in a quarter since 2011. The total US public debt has now exceeded $34,000 billion.
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