The US is edging ever closer to its “X-date,” when the country’s Treasury is expected to run out of cash and default if a new deal on its debt ceiling isn’t reached. Treasury secretary Janet Yellen said that the chances the US can pay all its bills by mid-June are “quite low”, while Goldman Sachs economists estimated that by 8 or 9 June the Treasury could see its cash levels drop below the $30bn – the bare minimum it needs to pay its bills. Today President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy are set to resume negotiations to agree a deal. Failure to do so could see the US suspend its social insurance payments and the salaries of federal and military employees. Default also threatens to create volatility in global financial markets and wreak havoc on the global economy.