Worst over for U.S. if financial crisis ends: Greenspan

Fri Jun 13, 2008 2:14pm EDT
 
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MEXICO CITY (Reuters) - Former U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday that the U.S. economy will be past the worst of its troubles once the financial crisis ends.

"I think the worst is over (for the U.S. economy) if the financial crisis is over," Greenspan said via video link to an event in Mexico.

Greenspan, who attained almost cult status for his market-moving insight into financial markets as head of the U.S. central bank, said he thought the turmoil in financial markets, sparked by a U.S. credit crunch, may have peaked in March but it was hard to say how long it would last.

"It can struggle along for a while. It could get worse, it could get better," he said.

The credit crunch, which has infected markets globally, erupted last year from the U.S. subprime mortgage sector's meltdown.

(Reporting by Chris Aspin, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)

 

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