Biden delays his trip to Australia to continue the negotiation of the spending ceiling in Washington

May 17. (EUROPE PRESS) –

The president of the United States, Joe Biden, has postponed his trip to Australia and Papua New Guinea, planned for after the G7 meetings in Japan, in order to continue negotiations with the House of Representatives regarding the increase in the spending ceiling. to avoid non-payment of the country’s debts.

Through a statement, the White House has announced that Biden has spoken with the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, to communicate the news of the postponement and invite him to a state visit in Washington on another occasion. She has also spoken with James Marape, the Prime Minister of Papua New Guinea, to try to find another time for the trip.

The one on the limit of the spending ceiling is a negotiation that has been stuck for weeks between the president and the Republican-majority Congress, and that has led Biden to meet with the leader of the House, Kevin McCarthy, to try to unravel it.

For his part, the spokesman for the National Security Council of the United States, John Kirby, has assured that this last-minute change of plans does not damage the foreign image of his country: “All leaders of democracies understand and respect the leadership America on the world stage, and they know that our ability to pay our debts is a key part of America’s credibility and leadership around the world.”

The United States reached the proposed limit for its debt, of 31,400 million dollars (28,417 million euros), which led the Treasury Department to take measures that allow the country to extend the payment term until June, a term that is also coming to its end.

The Republican members of the House believe that the country could default on its debt and have proposed increasing the debt limit and at the same time cutting spending, a measure that the White House rejects, considering that it would imply a loss of confidence in the US economy and cause a financial crisis.