Washington [US], October 16: The two-week-old federal government shutdown is costing the US economy about $15 billion a day in lost output, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said on Wednesday, putting an estimate on its economic toll and urging Democrats to "be heroes" and side with Republicans to end it.
Bessent told a news conference that the shutdown was starting to "cut into muscle" of the US economy.
"We believe that the shutdown may start costing the U.S. economy up to $15 billion a day," he said as quoted by Reuters.
The wave of investment into the U.S. economy, including into artificial intelligence, is sustainable and is only getting started, but the federal government shutdown is increasingly an impediment, Bessent added.
Source: Emirates News Agency
