Obama says he does not foresee January repeat of debt-ceiling crisis

U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the economy during a visit to ArcelorMittal steel mill in Cleveland, Ohio November 14, 2013. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama said on Tuesday he does not foresee a repeat in January of the "crisis" seen in October, when the federal government was shut down for 16 days and a debt default was narrowly averted. "I'd like to believe that the Republicans recognize that was not a good strategy and we're probably better off with a system where that threat is not there on a perpetual basis," Obama told a Wall Street Journal conference. The last-minute deal obtained in October requires Congress to reach an agreement on funding the government by January 15 and to raise the debt ceiling by February 7. (Reporting by Roberta Rampton, Steve Holland, Jeff Mason; Editing by Philip Barbara)