"We'll begin reopening our government immediately and we can begin to lift this cloud of uncertainty and unease from our businesses and from the American people"
- Barack Obama, U.S. President
As it was widely expected the U.S. politicians did make a last-minute decision, saving the world's biggest economy from the default, as well as other economies from severe spillover effects. The U.S. Congress passed a bill to end the government shutdown, which began October 1 and has cost the economy around $24 billion, and lift the federal debt ceiling. The U.S. President Barack Obama signed the bill early today, according to the White House statement, allowing hundreds of thousands of government furloughed employees to return to work as soon as today and permits the U.S. to continue paying its debts, salaries, benefits. Also, the bill saved the U.S. from a budgetary abyss by prolonging the Treasury's borrowing authority until 7 February and funding the government to 15 January.
While the deal provides only a temporary solution and does not resolve the budgetary issues, which divide Democrats and Republicans, that sets up another showdown early next year. Nevertheless, markets across the globe reacted positively on news from the U.S., with Wall Street and Asian stocks advancing.
The initial dispute over the healthcare reform law led to a partial government shutdown on 1 October and then turned into a bigger fight over the debt limit, threatening a default, which could have reverberations around the world.
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