<div style="text-align: justify; "><b><span style="font-size: 1rem;">President Joe Biden has said a bipartisan deal to raise the US debt ceiling and avert a fast-approaching default is ready to move to Congress.</span><br></b></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">He said on Sunday the agreement was a "compromise", while Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy earlier called it "worthy of the American people".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">They must now convince members of Congress to approve it.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The proposed deal is the result of long and bitter negotiations between Democrats and Republicans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Treasury had warned the US will run out of money on 5 June without a deal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The US must borrow money to fund the government because it spends more than it raises in taxes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Republicans have been seeking spending cuts in areas such as education and other social programmes in exchange for raising the $31.4tn (£25tn) debt limit.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">At a brief appearance before reporters on Sunday evening, President Biden said the proposed deal was "a really important step forward".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"It takes a threat of catastrophic default off the table, protects our hard earned and historic economic recovery.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"And the agreement also represents a compromise which means no one got everything they want, but that's the responsibility of governing."</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr Biden said he believed Mr McCarthy had negotiated in "good faith" and now had the votes for the deal to be backed in Congress.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The proposed deal has now been published on the House website.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">It envisages that non-defence government spending would be kept largely flat for two years and then rise by 1% in 2025.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There would be no major changes to Medicaid health insurance, and the proposed agreement fully funds medical care for veterans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Energy permitting laws are to be streamlined to speed up approval time for new projects - a reform Republicans have been pushing for.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Covid relief funds that have not been spent will be clawed back in the agreement, another demand made by the Republicans.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Certain age changes are proposed for a government programme that provides food-purchasing assistance for people on low or no incomes.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Late on Saturday, news came of a tentative deal - but it took until Sunday for negotiations to continue and the agreement to be finalised.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr McCarthy on Saturday referred to "historic reductions in spending, consequential reforms that will lift people out of poverty into the workforce".</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">"There are no new taxes, no new government programmes," he said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">But he now faces a challenge to push it through the House, where it may be opposed by some diehards among both Republicans and Democrats. On Sunday, Republican Representative Chip Roy of Texas said he and some others were "going to try" to stop it passing.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Republicans control the House by 222 to 213, while Democrats control the Senate by 51 to 49.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Mr McCarthy told Fox News on Sunday that more than 95% of House Republicans were very excited about the deal.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A US default would upend the US economy and disrupt global markets.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">In the US, the immediate effect would be that the government would quickly run out of funds to pay for welfare benefits and other support programmes, for instance.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Over a long period, the crisis would tip the US economy into recession - and this would result in unemployment rising.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">A US recession would have big knock-on effects for many countries around the world, for which the US is a key trading partner - they would not be able to sell to an economy that does not buy as much.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">And because the US dollar is the reserve currency of the world, a default would send panic across the world, eventually leading to prices of many commodities rising. BBC</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify; ">bnbd24/kh</div>