WASHINGTON, May 2 (UPI) -- The U.S. Treasury Department will implement measures this week to buy time before the debt ceiling is reached, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Monday.
Awaiting congressional action is consideration of whether to raise the debt ceiling beyond $14.3 trillion.
"This letter is to inform you of the extraordinary measures the Treasury Department will begin taking this week in anticipation of the date the debt limit will be reached, and to provide an updated estimate of the department's ability to use these measures to preserve lawful borrowing authority without exceeding the debt limit," Geithner said in a letter written to House and Senate leadership.
Geithner said the measures should allow the Treasury Department to extend borrowing authority until about Aug. 2.
Geithner said the department was prepared to suspend the issuance of state and local government treasury securities on Friday, if necessary.
If Congress doesn't increase the debt limit by May 16 -- an unlikely scenario -- the Treasury Department "will be forced to employ further extraordinary measures on that date to provide headroom under the limit," such as declaring a debt issuance suspension period for the Civil Service Retirement and Disability Fund so the department can redeem existing Treasury securities held by the fund as investments, and suspend issuance of new Treasury securities to the fund as investments.
Geithner also said he would suspend the daily reinvestment of Treasury Department securities held as investments by the Government Securities Investment Fund of the Federal Employees' Retirement System Thrift Savings Plan.
If necessary, Geithner said he also would suspend daily reinvestment of Treasury securities held as investments by the Exchange Stabilization Fund.
"Protecting America's creditworthiness and our economic leadership position in the world is a duty to our country that is shared by policymakers in both parties, in the legislative branch as well as the executive branch," Geithner told lawmakers. "Therefore any attempt by either party to use the full faith and credit of the United States as a bargaining chip to advance partisan policy agendas would be irresponsible."
