(Jack Rodgers photo/Courthouse News) (CN) — The Treasury Department warned Wednesday that it may need Congress to once again extend the national debt limit, as the debt-to-GDP ratio hits highs not seen since the late 1940s. “In light of the substantial Covid-related uncertainty about receipts and outlays in the coming months, it is very difficult to predict how long extraordinary measures might last,” the agency wrote on Wednesday in its quarterly refundingstatement. “Treasury is evaluation a range of potential scenarios, including some in which extraordinary measures could be exhausted much more quickly than in prior debt limit episodes.” If the debt ceiling, currently pegged at about $28 trillion, is breached, the Treasury cannot auction off any more bonds or notes and essentially lives “paycheck to paycheck” as tax revenue comes in. A debt ceiling default could lead to a downgrade in the nation’s credit rating — a disastrous scenario that could then shatter the world economy.