Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of SIFMA Urges Raising Debt Ceiling

In a letter sent on April 25, 2011, Matthew Zames, the Chairman of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee of SIFMA and managing director at JP Morgan, calls on Treasury Secretary Geithner to raise the debt limit without delay. The letter warns that, given the high level of uncertainty which already exists among market participants, even a technical default would have a severe and long-lasting impact on the economy. Moreover, any delay in making an interest or principal payment by Treasury even for a very short period of time would put the U.S. Treasury and overall financial markets in uncharted territory, and could trigger another catastrophic financial crisis. The letter also outlines five damaging consequences which would likely result from failure or even delay to raise the debt ceiling.