JEDDAH, Jul 14 – US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Tuesday that his government\’s massive intervention in the economy would be reversed as soon as the financial crisis is over.
"It is so important that the exceptional actions we have taken to fix the crisis are temporary and will be reversed as soon as the crisis has definitively receded," he told an audience of businessmen in Saudi Arabia\’s Red Sea port city of Jeddah.
"The United States was on an unsustainable fiscal path before this crisis, and we will not succeed in establishing sustainable recovery without a credible commitment to address our long-term deficits," he added.
The US has poured hundreds of billions of dollars into banks, auto companies and other industries to arrest economic contraction and protect jobs, but the moves have drawn criticism from economic conservatives opposed to an expanded government role in the economy.
Geithner was in Saudi Arabia to meet King Adbullah and other senior officials before heading to Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.
