Xinhua News Agency, Washington, October 29 (Reporter Yang Ling, Xiong Maoling) The U.S. federal government's "shutdown" entered its fifth week on the 29th. The Congressional Budget Office warned in an open letter on the same day that if the "shutdown" continues, it may cause losses of $7 billion to $14 billion to the US economy.

In a letter to the chairman of the House Budget Committee, the Congressional Budget Office that, depending on the length of the government¡¯s ¡°stop¡±, the ¡°stop¡± is expected to reduce the annual growth rate of the U.S. real GDP in the fourth quarter of this year by one to two percentage points, and estimates ¡°that there will be $7 billion to $14 billion in economic output losses that are irreversible.¡±

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the situation will improve once the government has reopened. But due to the shutdown of many federal agencies and offices and the slowdown in production, it will have a significant impact on the U.S. economy. With the federal government¡¯s ¡°stop-down¡± continuing, the losses will intensify the shutdown¡± lasting four weeks, the U.S. economy will lose $7 billion; lasting six weeks, the economic loss will rise to $11 billion; lasting eight weeks, the economic loss will reach $14 billion.

The Congressional Budget Office said the federal government stopped issuing ¡°supplementary nutritional assistance schemes¡± from November 1st, exacerbating the economic effects of the ¡°stop¡±.

Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program will expire on October 31, covering about 42 million people across the United States, accounting for about one-eighth of the total population, most of whom earn below the poverty line. Those receiving aid can use federal food relief to buy food in designated stores, etc. The Ministry of Agriculture, which is responsible for managing the project with states, announced yesterday that it will not use federal emergency funds to maintain food relief, a move that was challenged and opposed by the Democrats.

Due to the Senate's failure to pass a new interim appropriations bill before federal government funds were exhausted, the U.S. federal government "shut down" again in nearly seven years starting at 0:00 on October 1. Currently, about 750,000 federal employees in so-called "non-essential positions" have been forced to take unpaid leave, and many more employees work unpaid. U.S. President Trump previously stated that employees forced to take leave may not receive retroactive wages.

In order to end the "lockout", the Senate has voted on the provisional appropriations bill 14 times, but the bill has never been passed. Democrats asked Republicans to agree to negotiate an extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies, otherwise they would not support the interim appropriations bill; Republicans said negotiations would take place only if Democrats first voted to support the interim appropriations bill to end the "shutdown."