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The 2025 U.S. Debt Limit Through the Lens of Financial Markets

Author

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  • Luca Benzoni
  • Marisa Wernick

Abstract

We examine the 2025 U.S. debt limit episode through the lens of financial markets. First, we document an increase in trading activity in the U.S. sovereign CDS market, and we infer a probability of default from CDS premiums. We find that default risk reached 1% by the November 6 Presidential election, fell quickly after that, and progressively climbed back up in subsequent months to the current 1.1% level. Overall, these estimates are well below the default risk estimates for the debt-limit episodes of 2011, 2013, and 2023, which range from 4% to 6%. Second, so far we only find small distortions in the market for Treasury bills that mature around the “X-date,” when Treasury is expected to extinguish its existing resources, and thus would be most affected by a hypothetical default. This is in contrast with the 2023 episode, when bills maturing around the X-date traded with a yield that was about 1% higher than those maturing in other months. Third, we discuss the broader consequences that debt-limit events can have for the level of bank reserves at the Federal Reserve, and their implications for money markets liquidity.

Suggested Citation

  • Luca Benzoni & Marisa Wernick, 2025. "The 2025 U.S. Debt Limit Through the Lens of Financial Markets," Working Paper Series WP 2025-07, Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago.
    • Handle: RePEc:fip:fedhwp:101720
    DOI: 10.21033/wp-2025-07
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gara Afonso & Marco Cipriani & Adam Copeland & Anna Kovner & Gabriele La Spada & Antoine Martin, 2021. "The Market Events of Mid-September 2019," Economic Policy Review, Federal Reserve Bank of New York, vol. 27(2), pages 1-26, August.
    2. van Binsbergen, Jules H. & Diamond, William F. & Grotteria, Marco, 2022. "Risk-free interest rates," Journal of Financial Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(1), pages 1-29.
    3. Damiano Brigo & Nicola Pede & Andrea Petrelli, 2019. "Multi-Currency Credit Default Swaps," International Journal of Theoretical and Applied Finance (IJTAF), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 22(04), pages 1-35, June.
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    Keywords

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    JEL classification:

    • G10 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - General (includes Measurement and Data)
    • G12 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Asset Pricing; Trading Volume; Bond Interest Rates
    • G18 - Financial Economics - - General Financial Markets - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • G28 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Government Policy and Regulation
    • E32 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Prices, Business Fluctuations, and Cycles - - - Business Fluctuations; Cycles
    • E43 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Interest Rates: Determination, Term Structure, and Effects
    • E44 - Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics - - Money and Interest Rates - - - Financial Markets and the Macroeconomy

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