WASHINGTON (AFX) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the US should wait to assess the economy before approving a massive stimulus package to counter the impact of last week's terrorist attacks. Noting in an interview on PBS television that he has spoken about the issue with Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, O'Neill said "we think we need to assess where the economy is and how it feels for a little bit of time and see what kind of data we're getting, before we lurch off into a massive stimulus program." O'Neill said there is significant momentum at the moment in Washington "to go and take action," but some time is needed to properly assess the impact of the attacks. The Treasury Secretary said political leaders "need to be careful in the circumstance, that we not trot out everybody's favorite idea which they've been trying to get enacted for the last 50 years, and it gets swept into the vanguard of 'now's our chance.'" While President George Bush said earlier that the attacks had "shocked" the economy, and affected it significantly, O'Neill said it is not yet known how big a shock was incurred, and how long the impact will last. He explained that the "direct damage to the American economy is isolated," given the 10 trln usd size of the US GDP. Much will depend on consumer sentiment, the Treasury Secretary said, noting that consumer spending has thus far held up the economy as business investment has contracted through the year. The stockmarket is an important indicator in that context, because a large proportion of the country owns shares either directly or indirectly, he said. The stockmarket is an "index over time of how well we're doing." While the market has declined sharply since reopening on Monday, O'Neill repeated his forecast that "we will have new highs on market indices in the near future." The Treasury Secretary also said that the Bush administration is considering direct assistance for the airline industry, which would include a direct injection of liquidity. "We should give them liquidity and do it quickly," he said, although he cuationed that the amount of assistance could be less than the 25 bln usd requested by the industry. Such an injection of liquidity could be done in cash, or through loan guarantees, he said.