© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Jamie Dimon, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of JPMorgan Chase & Co., gestures as he speaks during an interview with Reuters in Miami, Florida, U.S., February 8, 2023. REUTERS/Marco Bello

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NEW YORK (Reuters) – JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM)’s CEO Jamie Dimon said the congressional standoff over the U.S. debt ceiling, and a potential U.S. default, could create a financial panic, according to an interview with Punchbowl News published on Wednesday.

“Panic isn’t necessarily a rational thing,” the website quoted Dimon as saying. “People panic. And (when) you see people panic — that’s ’08, ’09 again, and that’s really what you want to avoid.”

JPMorgan declined to comment beyond the interview.

“There’s a higher chance of a mistake here because of the politics of the situation” with damaging economic consequences, Dimon said. “I hope, one day, we get rid of it,” he said, restating a call to scrap the debt limit permanently.

The so-called “X-date” – when the government runs short of cash to pay its obligations – could come as early as June 1.