By Li Hongmei

The Obama administration warned on Wednesday that it would likely begin defaulting on its obligations within a month of Feb. 7 if Congress does not raise a cap on government borrowing by then.

Obama signed into law a bill last month that suspended a $16.7 trillion cap on the national debt until Feb. 7, when it will reset to whatever level the debt has reached.

Absent a decision to raise it again, the Treasury Department has tools known as "extraordinary measures" to manage its cash a little longer before it starts missing payments.

"There's no indication right now that extraordinary measures would last longer than a month," a Treasury official said.