Finance

Finance

Deal reached to avoid U.S. government shutdown

16 December 2011 08:21 (UTC +04:00)

Baku - APA-Economics. Democratic and Republican negotiators on Thursday night reached an agreement that would avert a possible partial shutdown of the U.S. federal government, local media reported, APA reports citing Reuters.

Negotiators were signing off on a 1 trillion-dollar spending bill that funds the government through the current fiscal year which ends Sept. 30, 2012, the report quoted several Democratic sources as saying. Both the House and Senate are expected to vote on the measure Friday.

The current stop-gap measure to fund federal agencies is to expire Friday at midnight. Government will be partially closed if no new funding measure is approved before that deadline.

Negotiators from both parties were reportedly to have reached consensus on the so-called omnibus bill that bundles a number of appropriations bills together. But Democrats later backed away from the deal, a move accused by Republicans as a tactic to gain leverage over payroll tax negotiations, one of the Obama administration’s year-end priorities.

Negotiations were continuing on extending the payroll tax cut and unemployment insurance, which are set to expire by the end of this year. Democrats preferred renewing the policies for another year but prepared a backup plan with two-month extension, according to the report.