US: US economy still facing 'substantial risks': Summers
20 Apr 2009 12:24 AM
WASHINGTON, April 19 AFP - The US economy still faces "substantial" downside risks, President Barack Obama's chief economic adviser Larry Summers told NBC television on Sunday as a regional Americas summit wound down.
While there are signs of what appears to be the beginnings of economic revival, "we have got a long way to go", Summers warned.
He said it's important to be mindful that "there are still substantial risks, that there are downside contingencies that we've got to prepare for, that there are issues in the global economy, that there are issues in commercial real estate".
His words echoed remarks last week by Obama in which the US leader said he detected "glimmers of hope" as America battles the deepest economic slump in generations, but warned of painful choices and more deep job cuts to come.
Summers noted that in contrast to just a few months ago "when everything was negative", there is "now some mixture in the indicators".
All the same, he added "we don't know what we don't know: We can't know with certainty what's going to happen next, and there certainly are real risks ahead".
Obama, faced with mushrooming budget deficits, announced he will convene his first full cabinet meeting on Monday and ask his secretaries for specific plans to cut spending.
Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund last week forecast a prolonged, deep global recession in a crisis "nobody is escaping", with recovery slow and difficult.
