In this Nov 2, 2020, file photo sunlight shines on the US Capitol building on Capitol Hill in Washington. Congress. (PATRICK SEMANSKY / AP)

WASHINGTON - The US Congress on Friday passed a two-day stopgap funding bill to avert a government shutdown and provide lawmakers more time to negotiate a deal in COVID-19 relief and long-term government funding.

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The House of Representatives passed the bill known as a continuing resolution by a vote of 320-60. The Senate also passed the measure by a voice vote to extend the government funding deadline from Dec 18 to Dec 20.

"Our baseline doesn't incorporate a government shutdown, and the odds of one remain low," Ryan Sweet, an economist with Moody's Analytics, wrote Friday afternoon in an analysis.

"Still, our past work on the economic costs of a partial government shutdown showed it subtracts 0.1 percentage point each week from GDP (gross domestic product) growth," Sweet wrote.  

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