Asked if he agreed with the view that U.S. economic output could expand by 5% in the fourth quarter, Mr. Mnuchin said, ‘Absolutely’
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Friday he expects the economy to rebound strongly after widespread shutdowns to contain the novel coronavirus are lifted, adding that the government is working at “lightning speed” to provide support.
Asked if he agreed with some investors’ view that U.S. economic output could expand by 5% in the fourth quarter, Mr. Mnuchin said, “Absolutely.” Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell said this week that the economy may already be in a recession.
The House of Representatives was rushing Friday to form a quorum to pass the $2 trillion economic rescue package, which includes conditional grants for small businesses and aid to heavily affected industries such as airlines.
“The sooner we can execute on this package and the sooner we can win this war against the virus, the economy will bounce back very quickly,” Mr. Mnuchin said in an interview on Fox Business.
If all goes well, Mr. Mnuchin said, businesses by next Friday will be able to access loans designed to cover payroll and overhead for eight weeks. As long as they retain their employees, the firms won’t have to repay the money.
“People will go into banks next Friday and be able to get loans,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “It’s going to be a very simple process where any FDIC-insured institution can underwrite the loan, approve it immediately as a government-guaranteed loan and get money to that small business.”
Mr. Mnuchin also repeated his goal for the Internal Revenue Service to deposit money—$1,200 per adult in most cases—into Americans’ bank accounts in three weeks.
The Treasury secretary reaffirmed the government’s commitment to rolling out more aid to the U.S. economy if necessary.
“This is a war,” Mr. Mnuchin said. “We’re going to spend what it takes to protect the American people.”