By Kathleen Brooks, Research Director UK EMEA, FOREX.com

The next four weeks are a critical test for Washington: will they avoid a government shutdown and the first even US credit default or not? First up is the budget tussle. This time next week the US may have stopped providing all but essential public services, if the US Congress cannot agree on a budget to finance the government spending programmes for the next fiscal year. In the US the fiscal year starts on October 1st and ends September 30th. Right now there is no deal between the Republicans, who have control of the House of Representatives, and the Senate, which is controlled by the Democrats. The second fiscal hurdle on the horizon is debt ceiling. The self-imposed debt ceiling (currently at $16.7 trillion) will be reached by mid-October. If Congress does not agree to raise the limit then the US may enter its first ever credit-default.