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White House says Geithner undecided on staying in position

05 August 2011 00:38 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. The White House said on Thursday that U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has not decided upon whether to step down in the near term, APA reports referring Xinhua.

"Secretary Geithner has said he hasn’t decided when he will leave and he has said he will be here for the foreseeable future," White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters on Thursday.

Local media last month reported that Geithner was mulling over stepping down following the bipartisan debt ceiling talks, as he recognized that he might have a window to depart once Congress and the administration ink a deal on raising the nation’s debt limit.

U.S. President Barack Obama Tuesday signed a bipartisan bill on raising the nation’s debt limit into law, hours before the federal government runs out of borrowing capacity, ending a perilous stalemate.

Geithner, the last remaining holdover from Obama’s original economic team, was an important player in the months-long partisan negotiation and wrangling.

Geithner is obviously a key member of the economic team, and his service has been extremely valuable to the president, to the administration, and to the country, Carney added.

Geithner’s departure, if it happens, would leave a big hole in Obama’s economic team and a daunting challenge to find a successor whose nomination should get a confirmation from the Senate.

Local media Thursday reported that Geithner was under mounting pressure to remain in office to soothe market jitters.