O'Neill to travel throughout US to gauge economic recovery through fall
 
WASHINGTON, Aug 12, 2002 (AFX-UK via COMTEX) -- Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill
will take a number of domestic trips in coming months through all regions of the
country to speak about the Bush administration's economic agenda and gauge the
state of the recovery, said chief Treasury spokesman Michele Davis.
 
After heading a panel at President George Bush's economic forum tomorrow in
Waco, Texas, O'Neill will visit Portland, Oregon, Seattle, and Denver later this
week to meet with local employers and speak about the economy, Davis said in a
press briefing.
 
Tomorrow's session is geared "to get a sense of how the recovery is progressing
in different regions of the country," she explained, but will also sound out
attendees about potential need for further economic stimulus measures.
 
"Part of this forum tomorrow and going forward will be to hear from a lot of
people about their thoughts if they have ideas to add to the economic agenda,"
Davis said.
 
Tomorrow's forum will include representatives from business, labor, and
academia, as well as government.
 
O'Neill will appear in televised interviews through the day from Texas, Davis
added.
 
Earlier today, O'Neill met with 15-25 representatives from the Financial
Services Roundtable, an association of financial firms, as part of "regular
outreach" to business and other groups.
 
The representatives informed O'Neill of their view that "the recovery is
underway, it's not creating jobs as fast as we like it to, (but) the signs are
all positive for recovery," according to Davis.
 
Davis also said that the Treasury Secretary still sees US GDP growth
accelerating to 3.0-3.5 pct by the end of this year, when asked if his views had
altered in tandem with those of Wall Street economists, many of whom have
downgraded their GDP forecasts for this year.
 
This fall, O'Neill plans "several" domestic trips to discuss the economy, she
said.
 
O'Neill's stepped up schedule of domestic travel comes after criticism earlier
this summer in newspaper editorials and from some quarters in Congress at a lack
of leadership in the Bush administration's economic team, and at O'Neill's heavy
schedule of foreign travel.
 
He came under fire for being in central Asia as US stock markets sank sharply.
O'Neill most recently returned Thursday from his first official trip to South
America.
 
Political analysts have noted that the Bush administration is hoping for better
news on the economy ahead of the November mid-term Congressional elections.
 
chris.anstey@afxnews.com
 
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 Copyright 2002. AFX News Ltd. All rights reserved.
 
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 KEYWORD:          United States of America
 SUBJECT CODE:     Macroeconomic Stories
 
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