U.S. requests Armenian PM to delay visit over shutdown

October 4, 2013 - 12:56 AMT

PanARMENIAN.Net - Prime Minister Tigran Sargsyan's visit to the U.S. has been delayed at the request of the latter, the official's press secretary told Interfax.

"Prime Minister’s visit to Washington had been scheduled for October 9-13, however it was delayed by the U.S. over the recent halt in financing," Harutyun Berberyan said.

The Prime Minister was supposed to participate in the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) meetings as well as the sitting of the Armenian-American intergovernmental committee for economic cooperation.

According to Berberyan, at the events above, Armenia will be represented by the Minister-Chief of Government Staff Vache Gabrielyan.

The U.S. government closed non-essential operations on Tuesday, October 1 after Congress failed to strike a deal on a new budget.

Republicans and Democrats are blaming each other for the impasse.

The shutdown has left more than 700,000 employees on unpaid leave and closed national parks, tourist sites, government websites, office buildings, and more.

However, as one budget crisis raged in Washington DC, another one - potentially more dangerous - loomed in the coming weeks. On Oct 17, the U.S. government will run out of cash to pay its bills unless the debt ceiling is raised.

On both issues, the Republicans who control the House of Representatives have demanded concessions from Obama and his fellow Democrats in return for funding the government's continued operation and for raising the debt ceiling.

Chiefly, the Republicans demand the repeal, delay or defunding of a healthcare reform law - dubbed Obamacare - passed by the Democrats in 2010.

Major portions of that law, which was subsequently validated by the U.S. Supreme Court and was a major issue in the 2012 presidential election, took effect on Tuesday.