US President Barack Obama early this morning signed a bill into law to end a disruptive 16-day government shutdown and increase the current debt ceiling of 16.7 trillion dollars to prevent the country from a debt default with potentially worldwide economic repercussions.

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said in a statement that the effective time for the continuing resolution begins on October 1, 2013 and added that the law also extends the Nation’s debt limit through February 7, 2014.

The signing of the bill came just in time to prevent an imminent default as the US would have exhausted its borrowing power by the end of today.

Soon after Obama signed the legislation, the White House Office of Management of Budget issued a notice to federal agencies asking the furloughed employees to resume their duties today.

Earlier, the Senate passed the legislation by 81-18 votes, while in the House of Representatives it was passed by 285-144 votes to end the government shutdown.