U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew told CNBC on Friday that the U.S. debt ceiling would not be reached until September, though he said it was not an excuse for Congress to relax.
"The debt limit will be reached in just a few days when it expires on May 18 but because of the cash flows we can predict that we will be okay until Labor Day," Lew told CNBC in an interview in London.
"People shouldn't relax, Congress should deal with this right away. The uncertainty caused by putting this off is not good. The anxiety caused to the U.S. and world economy by putting this off until the last minute is not good," Lew said on the sidelines of a meeting of G-7 finance ministers and central bank governors.