US recession not ‘inevitable’, Treasury secretary says

WASHINGTON, June 19 (AFP): A recession in the United States is not "inevitable," Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Sunday, just days after the US Federal Reserve hiked interest rates, raising fears of an economic contraction.

"I expect the economy to slow" as it transitions to stable growth, she said on ABC's "This Week," but "I don't think a recession is at all inevitable."

The US economy has recovered strongly from the damage wrought by Covid-19, but soaring inflation and supply-chain snarls exacerbated by the war in Ukraine have increased pessimism.

Wall Street stocks tumbled after the US central bank on Wednesday raised the benchmark borrowing rate by 0.75 per centage points, the sharpest rise in nearly 30 years.

And economists see worrying signs that consumer confidence is weakening, with people beginning to hold off on vacation plans.