Geithner Says Recovery Signs Are ‘Stronger’ Than Expected
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said signs of economic recovery are “stronger” and have appeared “sooner” than expected, while reiterating it’s not yet time to roll back stimulus programs.
Financial conditions have improved “dramatically,” particularly in the U.S., where the housing market has stabilized, Geithner said in a statement issued in Istanbul today. Still, jobless rates are “unacceptably high” and the financial system remains damaged. As a result, it’s too soon for governments to withdraw stimulus, Geithner said.
“Planning for an eventual exit is the responsible and necessary thing to do, but we are not yet in the position where it would be prudent to begin to withdraw fiscal and monetary policy support,” Geithner said in remarks released after a meeting of finance ministers and central bankers from the Group of Seven nations.
“Exit will not be like flipping a switch,” he said fast pay day loans. “Instead, as conditions stabilize and growth strengthens, we will unwind the extraordinary policy measures we’ve taken, phasing them out carefully to avoid a damaging cliff.”
G-7 policy makers meet at the end of a week in which officials from France to Canada voiced concern that a sliding dollar is threatening to impede their recoveries from the deepest global recession since World War II. The dollar has dropped 14 percent against a basket of seven currencies since early March.
Geithner didn’t mention currencies in his prepared remarks. In his recent public comments, he has reiterated that the U.S. doesn’t intend for the dollar’s role in the global economy to diminish.