U.S. Treasury Secretary John Snow on Thursday urged the Congress to raise the government's borrowing authority, saying the United States could face the prospect of not being able to pay its bills early next year unless the debt limit is raised.

In a letter to the U.S. Congress, Snow estimated that the government is expected to bump into the statutory debt limit around the middle of February.

"At that time, unless the debt limit is raised or the Treasury Department takes authorized extraordinary actions, we will be unable to continue to finance government operations," Snow wrote.

"I am writing to request that Congress raise the statutory debt limit as soon as possible," the letter said.

Snow did not say how much of a boost to the current debt limit the department would like to see this time.

The last time when the U.S. Congress agreed to boost the debt limit was in November 2004 and the debt limit was increased from 7.38 trillion dollars to the current 8.18 trillion dollars. The government's statutory borrowing authority also had been raised in 2002 and in 2003.

Source: Xinhua