CONGRESS VOTES NEW DEBT CEILING

Congress has given the government more room to borrow, preventing what would have been the first default by the US Treasury Wednesday. Lawmakers approved a bill late Tuesday night that raises the federal debt ceiling to a record $3.12 trillion for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends Sept. 30, from $2.8 trillion currently.

This will allow the Treasury to issue $40 billion in bonds that had been postponed pending the bill's approval.