To: GT who wrote (23453 ) 12/7/1998 9:52:00 PM From: DebtBomb Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 119973
Rumors are flying-Rubin denies: Monday December 7, 8:15 pm Eastern Time US Treasury's Rubin denies he plans to resign NEW YORK, Dec 7 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin on Monday firmly denied reports that he planned to resign. In a question and answer session with reporters before he addressed the National Foreign Trade Council in New York, Rubin called the reports ''totally, absolutely, 100 percent erroneous.'' Rubin also said fiscal reform in Brazil was of key importance to Latin America's economic outlook. ''Obviously, the key right now is Brazil and the implementation of the Brazilian fiscal program is the key to moving forward,'' Rubin said. The latest round of Rubin resignation reports was prompted by an article in the Japanese newspaper Sankei Shimbun quoting unnamed government sources out of Washington saying that Rubin had told President Bill Clinton that he wanted to resign shortly after the Christmas holiday. The sources were quoted as saying that Clinton conveyed his ''strong desire'' to Rubin that he stay at least until a replacement was found. A senior U.S. Treasury official denied the report earlier on Monday. ''This conversation never happened,'' the official told Reuters. The Sankei Shimbun report briefly weighed on the dollar in early trading in Tokyo but was largely ignored by Wall Street traders, who noted that similar rumors had swirled through financial markets on a regular basis in recent months. They added that even if Rubin left, his ''strong-dollar'' policy would likely live on. Related News Categories: currency, international, options, US Market News