US to hit debt ceiling sooner than thought

The U.S. Treasury will likely hit the debt ceiling earlier than first thought, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said, setting the stage for another fiscal showdown."When I previously wrote to you in December, I estimated that Treasury would exhaust extraordinary measures in late February or early March," Lew wrote in a letter to House Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and the other top three congressional leaders."Based on our best and most recent information, we believe that Treasury is more likely to exhaust those measures in late February," said the letter, which can be found at tinyurl.com/UPI-Lew-letter.A surge of February spending, mainly for 2013 tax refunds, will leave the Treasury with little room to maneuver after the official debt limit is reached Feb. 7, he said in the letter.