US government shutdown costs more than border wall Trump asked for

Published time: 28 Jan, 2019 09:38

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US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officials gather at the edge of the border wall with Mexico © Reuters / Adrees Latif

The United States economy has lost at least $6 billion during the record-long partial government shutdown which ended on its 35th day on Friday. That’s according to S&P Global Ratings analysis.

It said that the figure stems from loss of productivity and economic activity lost to outside business.

“Although this shutdown has ended, little agreement on Capitol Hill will likely weigh on business confidence and financial market sentiments,” the agency said.

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Nearly 800,000 federal employees were furloughed or working without pay during the shutdown which started on December 22 as a result of President Donald Trump’s demand for $5.7 billion in funding for US-Mexico border wall.

Trump signed a three-week funding bill on Friday night, formally ending the shutdown without securing money for a border wall. He warned that the government may shut down again if he cannot get a “fair deal” when the stopgap bill runs out. The president also suggested that he may declare a national emergency to bypass Congress for building the wall.

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Last week, Trump’s top economic adviser, Larry Kudlow said that he didn’t expect the shutdown to do lasting damage to the country’s economy.

“When the government reopens — and I'm not here to negotiate; I’m not going to make a prediction, that's up to the president — you will see an immediate snapback,” he told reporters.