Thursday, November 12, 2009

U.S. Needs to Borrow Less than Expected: Geithner

From MarketWatch.com:

The U.S. government's borrowing needs will likely be much less than originally expected, as bank have been repaying funds received during the crisis, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner told news channel CNBC.

"We are likely to have to borrow substantially less than we initially anticipated to help repair the damage to our financial system," Geithner said during an interview in Singapore, where he attended a meeting of finance ministers from Asia-Pacific countries.

Geithner also repeated his stance that a strong dollar is in the U.S. interest.

The dollar rose on Thursday, after slumping to 15-month lows earlier this week on expectations that the Federal Reserve will not raise interest rates any time soon.

Geithner's comments came as finance ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation also told Geithner that the region needs a strong dollar, Dow Jones reported, citing a Russian official.