WASHINGTON (AFX) - Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said yesterday he believed the slowed US economy will see a recovery early next year. "We will see a recovery at the beginning of the next year," said O'Neill, appearing on ABC's "This Week" program. "We are poised for a recovery," he added. The treasury secretary again appealed to Congress to rapidly pass an economic stimulus package as it was proposed by President George W Bush. The measure is currently blocked in the Senate, where Republicans and Democrats are sharply divided over it. While easing the tax burden on corporations, the package will allow the economy "to return to a good growth rate quickly," O'Neill said. He refused to comment on media reports that the National Bureau of Economic Research, a private institution that formally monitors economic cycles, was going to formally declare the US in a recession. The treasury secretary said the NBER was using different criteria to make its determination than other economists, who declare a recession after two consecutive quarters of negative growth. According to the Department of Commerce, the US so far has had only one quarter of negative growth. The economy shrank 0.4 pct in the third quarter of this year.