Obama orders $85bn in US budget cuts

The United States was finally forced to take $85 billion from its federal budget this year after President Barack Obama signed into effect spending cuts, known as the sequester.

About half of the cuts, 43 billion dollars, will affect the US military sector.

The US president signed the order after a last-minute meeting with Republican Congressional leaders failed on Friday.

Obama blamed the Republicans for refusing to prevent the “dumb” spending cuts which will target military and domestic spending.

“They’ve allowed these cuts to happen because they refuse to budge on closing a single wasteful loophole to help reduce the deficit,” the US president stated.

He also censured the Republicans and said their support for the rich was the major reason no agreement was reached on Friday.

Obama has warned that the budget reduction will hurt the middle class. He has also stated that the cuts should be made in “strict accordance” to the US law.

The International Monetary Fund has also warned that the spending cuts in the US could slow the global economic growth.

Experts say the GDP (gross domestic product) of the United States is expected to grow by only 1.4 percent in 2013, which shows a decline from the 2.2% in 2012. The United States is facing a $16.6-trillion debt.

On Friday, Obama met with House Speaker John Boehner, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi in the White House in order to settle differences over the budget before the sequester cuts damage the economy.

The sequester cuts, designed in 2011, could affect the salaries for 10,000 teachers and 7,200 specialists for children with disabilities. About 800,000 civilian employees at the Department of Defense could also see a 20-percent cut in their salaries.