Geithner says dollar's status carries extra responsibility

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner speaks with Editor of ''The Economist'' John Micklethwait at Pace University in New York October 15, 2009.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday the dollar's role as a reserve currency carries special responsibilities, including the need to control inflation and get the nation's finances in order.

In an interview on CNBC television, Geithner was asked about the dollar's recent decline and what the Treasury was doing to guard its value.

"The dollar's role in the system confers special obligations and responsibility on us as a country," he said.

"It is very important that Americans understand that we need to do everything possible to sustain confidence in our ability to keep inflation low and stable over time and to make sure we're getting our fiscal house in order."

Geithner said that developments over the past year, when many investors put their money into U.S. Treasury securities and the dollar rose at times, showed there was a great deal of confidence in U.S. economic management.

"The world wanted to be in (U.S.) treasuries, in the safest and most liquid markets, and you saw the dollar rose when people were most concerned about the future of the world," he said.

"That is a very important thing. It's not something you can count on. It's something we can understand, and we can continue to foster, and we're going to that," Geithner added.

CNBC ran a portion of an interview conducted with Geithner on Thursday on its website and was to show the full interview later on Friday.

(Reporting by Glenn Somerville; editing by Jeffrey Benkoe)