Biden and McCarthy hold debt talks to no avail as default deadline looms

If the debt limit is not raised, the US government will default on its bills: a historic first likely to have catastrophic consequences

The US House speaker Kevin McCarthy and president Joe Biden said they had a productive" discussion on the debt ceiling late on Monday at the White House but that no deal had been reached, as the government seeks to avoid a potentially catastrophic economic event.

If the debt limit is not raised, the US government will default on its bills: a historic first likely to have catastrophic consequences. Federal workers would be furloughed, global stock markets would be likely to crash and the US economy would probably drop into recession. The treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, has said this will happen on or around 1 June if no deal to raise the $31.4tn debt ceiling is reached.