Obama, House Republicans make no decision on shutdown, debt impasse

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Obama, House Republicans make no decision on shutdown, debt impasse

(Xinhua) 13:19, October 11, 2013

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WASHINGTON, Oct. 10 -- A White House meeting between U. S. President Barack Obama and House Republican leaders on Thursday ended with no specific determination made on how to end the government shutdown or raise the nation's debt limit.

"The President had a good meeting with members of the House Republican Leadership this evening; the meeting lasted approximately an hour and a half," the White House said in a readout after the meeting.

"After a discussion about potential paths forward, no specific determination was made. The President looks forward to making continued progress with members on both sides of the aisle," said the readout.

"The President's goal remains to ensure we pay the bills we've incurred, reopen the government and get back to the business of growing the economy, creating jobs and strengthening the middle class," it said.

As the partial government shutdown is in its tenth day, Washington faces another fiscal deadline. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew has told Congress that the federal government will reach its debt ceiling of 16.7 trillion U.S. dollars by Oct. 17, and failure to raise it would lead to a catastrophic default.

Earlier Thursday, U.S. House Speaker John Boehner said that Republicans planned to offer a temporary short-term debt ceiling increase to negotiate with Democrats.

Obama is "happy" with the latest offer from House Republicans and this is an encouraging sign, White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters during the daily briefing on Thursday.

（Editor：LiangJun、Yao Chun）