US House speaker confident of debt deal
US House Speaker John Boehner says he's confident of reaching a last-minute deal with President Barack Obama to avert a potentially catastrophic US debt default. Speaking next to Senator Mitch McConnell, Mr Boehner said the two top Republicans in Congress "are both confident that we're going to come to some agreement with the White House and end this impasse." Mr Boehner voiced optimism, even though both the House of Representatives and the Senate, which are led by rival parties, have shot down proposals from the other chamber. "In spite of our differences, I think we're dealing with reasonable, responsible people who want this crisis to end as quickly as possible. And I'm confident that we will," Mr Boehner told reporters. But he accused Mr Obama of holding up the process, saying: "We could have had this bill finished early last week." The United States has until midnight Tuesday to reach a deal to raise the ceiling for its debt or it will default, with potentially catastrophic consequences for the world economy. A number of differences persist between the two sides, with the Republicans insisting that action on the debt ceiling come with approval of an amendment to the US Constitution requiring balanced budgets. President Obama, his political allies and their Republican Party rivals have been holding urgent talks in Washington to find a way out of the debt crisis.