U.S. Treasury chief says economy on steady growth, inflation falling

The U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said Thursday that the American economy is on a steady growth with inflation declining.

"Instead of faltering, U.S. GDP grew by a robust 3.1% during 2023," she told a press conference during the G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors Meetings held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

American economy expanded 2.8% in the second quarter of 2024, according to the Commerce Department's first advance reading released earlier, and came much higher than market estimates of 2%.

Yellen noted the IMF now expects the American economy to be more than 10% larger by the end of 2024 than it forecasted in October 2019, before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic.

She added that U.S. is one of the few major economies with a cumulative contribution to global growth over the past five years that exceeded pre-pandemic expectations.

The Treasury head said there have been record numbers of new businesses applications in the U.S., showing the optimism felt by many American entrepreneurs.

"Growth in business investment from 2022 to 2024 significantly outperformed what is typical in the years following a recession. And we've seen a historic boom in private sector investment in key industries such as semiconductors, clean energy, and advanced manufacturing," she added.