Republican House Speaker Kevin McCarthy said Thursday night that no deal has yet been reached with the White House to raise the U.S. federal debt limit.

Negotiators on both sides will continue to work toward a deal, he added, as the June 1 deadline looms, after which Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen has warned that unless Congress raises the borrowing limit, the country will be forced to declare a suspension of payments.

“It’s hard. But we are working and we will continue to work until we get it done,” Mr McCarthy told reporters.

Time is running out to avoid the risk of the world’s largest economy defaulting, an unprecedented scenario synonymous with recession, turmoil in US markets and the spread of the crisis to the global economy, economists say.