The United States will reach its current debt ceiling of 16.4 trillion dollars next week, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner warned Wednesday in a letter to Congress, dpa reported.
The Treasury Department would however take extraordinary measures to create 200 billion dollars in extra room to manouevre to keep the US from defaulting on its obligations on Monday.
Geithner warned lawmakers to act to extend the debt limit, noting that given the uncertainty of looming austerity measures due to take effect at year's end that it was unclear how much extra time the Treasury Department's efforts would allow.
Under normal circumstances, the moves would buy an additional two months before a default, he said.