Skyrocketing energy prices will weigh on global growth but will likely exact a much smaller toll than surging oil prices did in the 1970s, U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Tuesday. Despite an inevitable near-term impact on growth, oil prices remain below their inflation-adjusted peak of 1981 and the world's economy has grown more energy-efficient in recent decades, Greenspan said in a speech to Japanese business leaders. "Although the global economic expansion appears to have been on a reasonably firm path through the summer months, the recent surge in energy prices will undoubtedly be a drag from now on," he said. "The effect of the current surge in oil prices, though noticeable, is likely to prove significantly less consequential to economic growth and inflation than the surge in the 1970s." Greenspan, making his first visit to Tokyo in five years and probably the last before his term is due to end in January, did not address the outlook for U.S. monetary policy and did not take any questions. His relatively optimistic long-term outlook supported the U.S. Treasuries market, sending the yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note down by two basis points to around 4.48 percent in early Asian trade. The dollar was little moved, hovering near two-year highs around 115.30 yen set earlier in the day. Greenspan's remarks, the text of which had been made available to the media in advance, were accidentally released ahead of time by a news organization.