Wall Street Is Getting More Worried About the Debt Ceiling. These Charts Show How Much
Analysts have brought forward their expectations for when the US is at risk of breaching its borrowing limit
Investors and politicians are zeroing in on whether or not the US government can avoid crashing into its statutory debt ceiling and a potentially catastrophic technical default that could follow. From Washington to Wall Street, here’s what to watch to gauge how worried observers should be and when they should be concerned.
Underpinning all these market moves are varying estimates about when the government might exhaust its options to fund itself — commonly referred to as the X-date. The administration itself has provided guidance that it might fall short as soon as June, as has the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. Meanwhile, prognosticators across Wall Street have also been busy running the numbers based on government cash flows and expectations around tax and spending, with some strategists pulling forward align with forecasts out of Washington. Others are staying with their late-summer estimate, but acknowledge that the Treasury’s finances will be thin.