The US Treasury Department says it will suspend the sales of certain securities on Friday to allow for headroom in government finances as the country hits its borrowing limit.
Sales of the State and Local Government Series (SLGS), special-purpose securities, will be suspended on February 7 at noon (0400 AEDT on Saturday), the Treasury said in a statement.
"This suspension is necessary by reason of the statutory debt ceiling. The suspension will assist Treasury's management of the debt subject to limit."
In October, congress temporarily suspended the debt limit through February 7.
On that date, the total amount borrowed will become the new debt limit, in the absence of action by congress to raise the debt ceiling.
US debt currently stands at $US17.3 trillion ($A19.83 trillion).
The suspension will impose some added cost and inconvenience on some state and local government issuers of new debt as they will have to invest the proceeds in alternative assets to remain in compliance with tax law, it said.
"The Treasury Department will reopen the SLGS window when congress enacts, and the president signs, legislation raising the debt limit," the statement said.
The securities count against the debt limit and, as such, halting their sale conserves the "remaining headroom available" for operating without cutting back expenditures, the Treasury said.
On Monday, Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew warned the United States was in danger of being forced to default on its obligations by the end of February if congress failed to lift the debt limit.
He urged congress to increase the borrowing authority by the end of the week, saying the Treasury would likely exhaust extraordinary measures to prevent default by the end of the month.
The automatic reinstatement of the spending cap on Friday comes amid tax filing season, when tax refunds cause net cash outflows from the government's coffers.
Delaying action on raising the debt ceiling "can cause harm to our economy, rattle financial markets, and hurt taxpayers," Lew said on Monday.
Republicans are seeking to attach deficit reduction measures to legislation to raise the debt ceiling.
But President Barack Obama insists he will not sign a bill that includes such conditions.
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