Obama signed the ‘American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012’ on Wednesday, the White House said in a statement.
On January 1, the House of Representatives voted 257 to 167, approving the bill, which consists of raising taxes on the wealthiest Americans, while exempting others who earn less than $450,000 a year. It will also put off 109 billion dollars in budget cuts for two months.
The Congressional Budget Office has criticized the bill, saying it would add almost four trillion dollars to the federal deficit over a decade, since the deal continues to entitle nearly all Americans with low tax rates.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) said the bill was too limited to deal with the financial problems of the United States.
“More remains to be done to put US public finances back on a sustainable path without harming the still fragile recovery,” IMF spokesman Gerry Rice said on Wednesday.
“It is crucial to raise the debt ceiling expeditiously and remove remaining uncertainties about the spending sequester and expiring appropriation bills.”
New financial deadlines are set for the coming months, when the US Treasury Department will run out of borrowing authority in late February and Congress will be asked to raise the debt ceiling.
A month later in late March, a bill on government funding will expire, forcing Congress to act.
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