Obama to address Americans on debt impasse

WASHINGTON: President Barack Obama plans to address Americans late Monday on the impasse in negotiations over a deal to avert a US debt default, the White House said.

White House spokesman Jay Carney said in a Twitter message that Obama would address the nation at 9:00pm (0100 GMT Monday) on the "stalemate over avoiding default and the best approach to cutting deficits."

Democratic and Republican leaders of Congress earlier offered rival strategies to raise the US debt limit and deflate the swollen US budget deficit as the International Monetary Fund warned of a "severe shock" to the world economy if the two sides fail to reach agreement.

The world's largest economy is on track to run out of cash to pay its bills if Congress does not raise the $14.3 trillion US debt ceiling by August 2.

Copyright AFP (Agence France-Presse), 2011