US bank rescue efforts are only showing “mixed” signs of success, Tim Geithner, Treasury secretary, conceded yesterday.
Appearing before a congressional oversight panel, Mr Geithner said it was hard to know how the financial markets would have operated without such programmes. Interbank lending, corporate issuance and credit spreads were showing some signs of a thaw in credit, he added. But he said: “To date, frankly, the evidence is mixed.”
His comments came as the International Monetary Fund issued a report warning that global banks and financial institutions would eventually have to write down assets by $4,100bn before stability was restored.