Published January 13, 2015
The Australian government plans to raise the nation's debt ceiling by a whopping two-thirds to 500 billion Australian dollars ($486 billion) in a bid to avoid any future Washington-style political crisis over spending.
The government, elected last month, said Tuesday that its latest data showed that debt will hit a AU$300 billion ceiling in December.
While the previous government had forecast debt to peak at AU$370 billion in 2015-16, the latest data showed it would exceed AU$400 billion.
Treasurer Joe Hockey says Australia does not want to get into the U.S. position "where there's tremendous uncertainty about the capacity of a country to live within its means."
A 16-day partial U.S. government shutdown ended last week when Congress approved funding through January and increased the U.S. debt limit through February.
https://www.foxnews.com/world/australia-plans-to-boost-debt-ceiling-to-486-billion-to-avoid-washington-style-crisis