Sec. Lew: Extraordinary budget measures will be exhausted no later than Oct. 17

U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew warned Congress on Wednesday that the United States would exhaust its borrowing capacity no later than Oct. 17, at which point it would have only about $30 billion in cash on hand.

The fresh estimate came in a letter to congressional leaders in which Lew urged them to move swiftly to raise the nation's $16.7 trillion debt limit.

"If the government should ultimately become unable to pay all of its bills, the results could be catastrophic," Lew said.

(Read more: Treasury's Lew: US may have less than $50 billion soon)

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—By Reuters