Shutdown’s economic damage makes $1 billion a week

Baku. 11 January. REPORT.AZ/ The cost to the overall U.S. economy is at about $1.2 billion for each week the shutdown persists, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers Kevin Hasset said.

Report informs citing Interfax that though such losses will slowdown the growth of the country's economy by only 0.05 percentage points, they can make it difficult for the US government to achieve a stable GDP growth rate of 3%, Politico writes.

Notably, several US federal agencies partially suspended their activity (entering the so-called 'shutdown' mode) on December 22 after the Congress failed to agree the new budget.

US President Donald Trump does not intend to sign the budget unless it includes USD 5 bn to fund the construction of a wall on the border with Mexico, while democrats are not ready to support the document envisaging such costs.

Fitch warned on Wednesday of a possible cut to the U.S. triple-A sovereign credit rating later this year if the ongoing government shutdown leads to it hitting its debt ceiling and hampering budget setting.