World press see US debt deal as 'temporary truce'
World newspapers say the US Congress has managed to avoid a "financial catastrophe" by passing a bill to reopen the government and raise the federal debt limit, but view the crisis as far from over.
Newspapers in China say the stalemate has weakened the US dollar's reputation, while dailies in Europe and Americas see the deal as a "temporary truce".
Zachary A. Goldfarb in The Washington Post:
"The deal reached by Congress on Wednesday to end the government shutdown and raise the debt ceiling averts a financial catastrophe but leaves the weakened US economy facing new threats."
Editorial in the New York Times:
"The Republican Party slunk away on Wednesday from its failed, ruinous strategy to get its way through the use of havoc... The Republicans pushed the nation to the brink of default, and pulled back at the last minute when it was clear the White House would not capitulate."
Article in Canada's The Globe and Mail:
"The strong bipartisan endorsement of a solution that did little but push forward two deadlines for another two months invites two questions: What was it all for, and what will keep it from happening again? Mr. Boehner and his party's restive Tea Party faction also will be under the microscope, as it was unclear whether the events of the past few weeks strengthened Mr. Boehner's control of his caucus, or weakened him in the eyes of hard-liners who put 'principle' ahead of pragmatism."
Nikolaus Piper in Germany's Sueddeutsche Zeitungdaily:
"There is a clear loser in all this, and that is the far right wing of the Republican Party, not because those people are cowards but because they started this mad dicing with a catastrophe in the first place. It was the idea of Tea Party hard-liners to use a routine procedure - the release of budgetary funds - in order to assert a party political objective and stop Obama's health care reform. This game could not be won, the president could in no way accept this kind of blackmail."
Philippe Gelie in France'sLe Figaro daily:
"The United States are not the only ones to elect irresponsible leaders - the Europeans know or thing or two about this, too. But the spectacle presented in Washington over the last few weeks goes beyond the excessive taste of the Americans for political drama. What have we seen? A minority of Tea Party MPs dictating the law in the name of a lost cause - the health insurance reform passed three years ago. Parliamentary leaders unable to discipline their rank and file. A president who is firm on principles but isolated, who is paying for years of absence of dialogue with MPs."
David Usborne inThe Independent:
"For now, the deal represents a white flag for conservative Republicans and the right-wing Tea Party, which achieved almost nothing of what they set out to achieve with this crisis, notably to pare back or delay President Obama's healthcare overhaul legislation known as Obamacare. Put forward instead was an almost entirely "clean bill" with only slight amendments to the health law to guard against fraudulent claims for government help by citizens to pay premiums."
Dan Roberts and Paul Lewis in The Guardian:
"Some degree of internal bickering is normal between elections but if Republicans cannot succeed in sticking the economic leg back together, a more lasting split is not inconceivable, say those close to the party."
Anna Fedyakina in Rossiyskaya Gazeta:
"America has sighed with relief. The congressmen's debate looked like another episode of a political blockbuster, which, according to Hollywood traditions, should have a happy ending. It seems that the American legislators are used to living like they were in a movie: letting the situation reach a boiling point, making a decision at the last moment and then declaring that they once again have saved everyone."
Commentary in China's The Nan Fang Daily:
"Currently, economic nationalists around the world indignantly view the US dollar and US debt as tools in a 'conspiracy' to 'kidnap and blackmail' the world. Regardless of whether this view is extreme, if we want to get out of this passive unfavourable situation in the long term, we can only reduce the role of the US dollar and the US debt in the global market."
Commentary in China's People's Daily:
"Analysts have pointed out that although the status of the US dollar is currently unmatched, changes have started to occur. Economists say that with the internationalisation of the Euro, Japanese yen, British pound, Australian dollar, Canadian dollar and the RMB, countries are increasingly bypassing the US dollar and entering into currency swap agreements. These have all dimmed the aura of the dollar as a reserve currency."
Chidanand Rajghatta in The Times of India:
"The United States seems intent on proving the Churchillian assessment that 'one can always 'count on the Americans to do the right thing - after they have exhausted all the other possibilities'. The world heaved a sigh of relief that some resolution, even if it is a temporary fix, is in the works."