Yellen: Oct. 18 likely date when US debt measures exhausted

By MARTIN CRUTSINGER
AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) — Secretary Janet Yellen is telling Congress that the Treasury Department will likely exhaust all of its “extraordinary measures” to avoid an unprecedented default on the government’s obligations by Oct. 18. Yellen warned Congress three weeks ago that the Treasury would run out of maneuvering room by mid-October and gave a specific date for the first time Tuesday, based on revenue the U.S. received in September from corporate and private quarterly tax payments.Yellen’s letter arrived the day after Republicans in the Senate blocked consideration of a bill to deal with the debt limit and approve a stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown on Friday.