GFS LinkedIn
GFS Facebook
GFS Twitter
GFS RSS feed

Geithner may step down from Treasury

Friday 1 July 2011 - by Andrew Hickley

US Treasury secretary Timothy Geithner has told President Barack Obama he is considering stepping down after an agreement is reached to raise the debt ceiling, according to reports.

The 49 year-old, one of President Obama's closest advisers, has told colleagues he needs a break from government service, Bloomberg reports. He oversaw the turmoil of the financial crisis first as the chairman of the New York Federal Reserve before joining the Treasury in 2009.

Quoting three people familiar with the matter, it adds that the decision is not a final one and will not be made until the issue of raising the debt ceiling has been concluded.

While Geithner has been influential in crafting bailout packages for the likes of Bear Stearns and Goldman Sachs and overseeing the Tarp programme, he has also branched out in the international arena in an attempt to sway foreign policymakers.

He has lobbied hard at G20 events for countries such as China to revalue their currencies, while he also recently locked horns with European regulators over worldwide derivatives standards.


If Geithner were to depart it would represent a complete turnaround of Obama's top economic team. Christina Romer resigned her post as chairman of the Council of Economic Advisors in September 2010, being followed by Larry Summers stepping down from his post as first director of the National Economic Council at the end of the year.

Romer's successor Austan Goolsbee will leave this position in August, while Peter Orszag quit last year also quit as director of the Office of Management and Budget in order to join Citibank.


WHAT DO YOU THINK?
 
Name:
   
Email:
   
Comment:
   
Post as Anonymous
  Display name
   
Please, enter security code
   
 

No comments yet.

STRAW POLL

Will markets in 2012 have a tougher time than 2011?

Yes

No

Don't know

View results

FIND A REGION world regions