The Day at a Glance | October 4 2021

The Top

*US Congress has this week to resolve the dispute on the debt ceiling`s suspension and avoid non-payment of debt.

*OPEC+ holds meeting to define crude oil production increases in November.

*Evergrande must pay issued debt worth 260 million dollars; non-payment would lead to default.

*The US will resume conversations with China regarding the fulfillment of their trade agreement and the withdrawal of tariffs on some products.

Economic environment

No agreement in Congress to resolve the debt ceiling issue. Members of US Congress still show no signs of reaching an agreement to increase or suspend the debt ceiling, which is why the countdown to the country`s potential first default has begun. Democrats plan to vote on an initiative today – one that will suspend the debt ceiling until December 2022, but Republicans have said they will reject this proposition for a third time. This increases the likelihood of the country going into default if no agreement is reached soon. Joe Biden will talk about putting pressure on Congress today. Republicans seek to put pressure on Democrats in order for them to unilaterally suspend the debt ceiling in a “budgetary reconciliation” process, something that would make them subject to criticism as the ones responsible for the country`s indebtedness during next year`s elections. However, Democrats have avoided this in order to nullify the decision`s political cost. The impasse threatens to have time run out before reaching an agreement. In any case, the “budgetary reconciliation” process would take two weeks, which makes October 4th the last day to start said process and avoid default; if Secretary of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, was right about October 18th being the date on which the government`s money runs out. Private analysts consider that the government`s resources could last until the start of November. At the moment, Progressive Democrats have said that they would cut President Biden`s social spending plan in half in order to open up negotiations with Republicans.