Yellen: Different system needed to end repeated standoffs over US debt ceiling

By ELAINE KURTENBACH
AP Business Writer

NIIGATA, Japan (AP) — Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen says that in her opinion, the United States should adopt a different system for national finances that might forestall repeated standoffs with Congress over spending. Emphasizing that it was her own opinion, not the position of the Biden administration, Yellen said that there are various alternatives for avoiding situations where the Treasury lacks the funds to pay its bills. However, for now she said raising the debt ceiling to avert a default on the national debt remains the only solution. Speaking ahead of a meeting in Japan of finance ministers and central bank governors of the Group of Seven advanced economies, she said, “the answer is there is no good alternative.”