Financial Times Report Obama Announces Deal on US Debt Limit

President Barack Obama announced on Sunday night that US Congressional leaders had reached and agreement on a tentative deal that would extend the debt ceiling and avoid a US default, ahead of the opening of Asian markets.  He said there was a framework in place to cut spending and guarantee further deficit-reduction steps to “end the crisis that Washington imposed on America”. He said that the process had “been messy and taken far too long,” leaving him concerned about the impact on business confidence and consumer confidence. The president gave assurances that the deficit cutting “won’t be a drag on a fragile economy”.  http://link.ft.com/r/S4XZQQ/AM5UFH/69ASY/EWM9D3/C44RNJ/YT/h?a1=2011&a2=7&a3=31