(Reuters) – Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen on Thursday agreed that any default on U.S. debt would cause irreparable harm.
Yellen, asked by a member of the House Financial Services Committee if the damage done by failure to meet the federal government’s debt obligations would be “irreparable,” answered: “Yes.”
Yellen has said the government will run out of cash around October 18 unless Congress raises the limit on the federal debt. After that date, the Treasury would be “simply in an impossible situation,” Yellen said during an appearance before the committee on Thursday. “We won’t be able to pay all of the government’s bills.”
(Reporting By Dan Burns; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)