24 October 2001, 08:29  O'Neill says US economy beginning to see recovery

WASHINGTON (AFX) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said the US economy is beginning to see a recovery and he expressed confidence that it will return to being the engine for global growth. "We're beginning to see a recovery," O'Neill told a Coalition of Service Industry conference here. "I have absolute confidence that our economy has the underpinnings to be the engine of economic growth for the whole world that we need to be," he added. He cited data showing a rebound in air travel, saying the figures show "75 pct of the passengers flying that we had a year ago." "That's important because it has collateral carrying power in the hotels and restaurants and rental car agencies," O'Neill said. He also cited retail sales figures released last week which showed a 0.5 pct year-on-year increase, while automobile sales are running at over 18 mln units annualised. "We are going to be fine," he said.

© 1999-2024 Forex EuroClub
All rights reserved