Fed’s Harker: A US debt default would have enemies cheering

Feb 10 (Reuters) – A default on U.S. government debt triggered by political brinkmanship over federal borrowing limits and the budget deficit would be dire, Philadelphia Federal Reserve President Patrick Harker said on Friday in the latest warning from a central banker over the debt ceiling.

“Imagine us as a nation, the leading nation in the world, defaulting on our debt – that’s hard to recover from,” Harker said at a Global Interdependence Center conference in La Jolla, California. “And our competitors, our enemies, will cheer in the streets.”

(Reporting by Ann Saphir; Editing by Leslie Adler)