2-3% growth forecast realistic: Geithner
US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner agrees with the consensus forecast that the US economy will grow between 2-3 per cent in 2012.
"I think that’s a realistic outcome as long as we don’t see a lot of risks coming out of Europe," he told participants at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Friday in Davos, Switzerland.
Geithner also noted that despite positive growth, unemployment remains high, housing weak and household debt up.
Last week, the Federal Reserve also announced that the Fed Funds rate would remain at the extra low level until 2014, to stimulate the economy.
The world’s economy is "deeply into the danger zone" because of risks from the eurozone, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has said.
The International Monetary Fund projected a 1.8 per cent growth rate for the US economy, unchanged from the previous forecast in September. Last week, it also revised down the global economic growth this year to 3.25 per cent, down from an earlier forecast of 4 per cent. The eurozone is set for a "mild recession" in 2012, with GDP expected to shrink by 0.5 per cent, compared with a previous forecast of 1.1 per cent growth.
