US economy can deal with market volatility

Washington, Aug 9: President George W Bush said today the US economy was solid and well-positioned to deal with the stress from ongoing financial market volatility.

''There is a lot of liquidity in our system and liquidity will provide the capacity for our system to adjust,'' Bush told a small group of reporters invited to a 45-minute session with him at the Treasury Department.

Bush earlier met his top economic advisors including Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at Treasury. He was asked what he would say to reassure Americans worried about fluctuating prices for stocks and other market securities.

''I would say that the underpinnings of our economy are strong strong employment numbers, low inflation, real; wages are on the rise,'' he said. ''There's a strong global economy which means it's more likely somebody will buy our goods.'' Bush also said that Paulson and his other advisors were ''paying close attention as the market begins to readjust its assessment of risks'' and were watchful for any downturn.

Bush acknowledged the economy had encountered ''an issue with housing'' as defaults on so-called subprime mortgage loans to less credit-worthy borrowers rose but he said ''a soft landing is kind of what it's looking like so far.''

Reuters>