U.S. could hit debt limit in mid. Feb.: Geithner

WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) -- Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Monday said the debt ceiling would be reached between mid-February and early March unless Congress acted to raise it. The U.S. would have hit the debt limit in December but Treasury took several accounting moves to delay it. Geithner's estimate, contained in a letter to Congressional leaders, updated his earlier, more general, estimate from December that the extraordinary measures would delay the debt ceiling for two months. Geithner said Treasury would provide a more targeted estimate at a later date. There is a lot of uncertainty given the tax filing system, he said.