House Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi laments deal delay

The US House of Representatives has voted to accept a deal to raise the country's debt ceiling in order to avoid the risk of defaulting on its debt repayments.

The legislation was passed by 269 votes to 161 and now needs to be approved by the Senate.

House Democratic leader, Nancy Pelosi, criticised the amount of time it took for lawmakers to approve the deal, saying an agreement ''could have been reached a long time ago.''