WASHINGTON — Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew told Congress on Friday that he will start using the emergency measures he has used in the past to keep the federal government from going over the debt limit next week.
The debt limit has been suspended for the past year, meaning that Treasury could borrow as much as it needed to keep the government running. But the limit will go back into effect March 15 at whatever level of debt exists at that point. The nation’s debt currently stands at $18.1 trillion.
Treasury can employ accounting measures to buy time to keep the government operating without facing a costly default on the nation’s debt.
In a letter to congressional leaders, Lew said he would use the first of those measures Friday, two days before the debt limit will be reimposed. The Congressional Budget Office estimated that Lew can delay hitting the ceiling until October or November.
