US debt ceiling: Republicans hit pause on negotiations for now

Congressional Republicans have paused negotiations to raise the debt ceiling, casting doubt over talks to avoid a default.

Garret Graves, the lead Republican negotiator, left a closed-door meeting with White House representatives on Friday morning, Bloomberg reported.

Mr Graves told reporters as he left that the Democratic administration was being "unreasonable".

The White House confirmed talks were suspended for now.

Without a deal, the US risks being unable to pay all of its bills, triggering a default.

US President Joe Biden is expected to return to the US from a G7 summit in Japan on Sunday to thrash out a deal.

Share markets in the US fell amid reports that talks had stalled. The S&P 500 was down roughly 0.2% at midday.

The Treasury Department has warned that, unless its borrowing limit is raised, the government will be unable to pay all of its bills after 1 June.