The leaders of the US Congress reached an agreement on Sunday to set a maximum spending ceiling for this year of 1.66 trillion dollars, in order to avoid the risk of a federal government shutdown.

The agreement was reached between the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties and will still have to be ratified by Congress.

According to The New York Times, the agreement includes an increase in Pentagon spending to 886.3 billion dollars, and maintains spending in other areas, namely health and assistance, at 772.7 billion dollars.

The Associated Press reports that the agreement is based on spending limits that Congress had already established in a bill to suspend the debt limit until 2025, but at the same time pleases the Republicans in the House of Representatives.

"This is the most favorable budget deal Republicans have gotten in more than a decade," said House of Representatives Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican.

In a statement, US President Joe Biden said the agreement would safeguard "important national priorities" and "avoid an unnecessary government shutdown".

The agreement, he continued, "avoids deep cuts to programs that working families are counting on and paves the way for the passage of funding bills that will benefit the American people and are free from extreme politics."