US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned in an interview with CNN on Friday that a US debt default would “definitely cause a recession in the United States and could lead to a global financial crisis”.

The finance minister was speaking from Dakar, Senegal, where he began a ten-day trip to the African continent that will also include Zambia and South Africa.

On Friday, the United States reached the debt limit set by Congress at more than 31,000 billion dollars, and at the moment elected officials have not been able to agree on an increase or suspension of the ceiling, writes AFP.

This in itself is not unusual, since the restrictions have been the subject of legislative intervention 79 times since 1960.

But the Republican majority in the House of Representatives wants to use the issue to pressure Democrats to cut a range of spending, especially those resulting from programs implemented since the beginning of President Joe Biden’s term, as well as taxes.

If the U.S. defaults, “our borrowing costs will go up, and every American will see their costs follow the same course.”

“But more than that, a failure to make payments, whether on our debt obligations, welfare recipients or our military, will certainly cause a US recession and could lead to a global financial crisis,” Yellen said.

“This will undoubtedly affect the role of the dollar as a reserve currency used in transactions around the world. Many Americans would lose their jobs,” she insisted.

Once the limit is reached, the US Treasury can no longer borrow, even short-term, to obtain working capital and has imposed a moratorium on debt issuance that will last until June 5.

“Exceptional measures” were also introduced, including the suspension of payments to several pension funds and health and disability benefits for civil servants, technical adjustments not immediately required to pay pensions.

These measures allow the US administration to bring the situation to an end, but they can only be temporary, and if Congress does not reach a deal, the US could eventually find itself in a state of default.