The US economy stalled this spring and the path of growth in the months ahead is uncertain, Federal Reserve Chairman Mr Alan Greenspan said today.
"It is too early to get any real fix on the American economy in the period ahead," Mr Greenspan said in remarks to the International Monetary Conference central bankers panel.
No acceleration in growth has taken hold yet, although the recent data suggest the economy stabilised last month after weakening in March and April, he said.
But he noted that productivity growth remains strong and financial markets are pointing toward a recovery later this year. "The most important news about the American economy in the last several quarters is the evidence of a remarkable resiliency which we had not been aware of in earlier years".
He continued: "It's just not conceivable that we could have gone through the shocks that we have gone through since the middle of 2000 and still essentially experience an economy that has been on net balance expanding without some extraordinary flexibilities being built into our system in recent years".