Federal Reserve Board chairman Alan Greenspan's downbeat assessment of the United States economy and the possibility of further rate cuts is pushing back hopes of a fourth-quarter recovery to early next year.
On Wednesday, Mr Greenspan told the House Financial Services committee the economy faced considerable uncertainty in the months ahead and another interest-rate deduction might be needed to revive sluggish growth.
The Fed has slashed interest rates by 2.75 per cent this year in a bid to stave off recession, with Hong Kong banks following all six cuts.
'The easing comments were much more explicit statements of intent than we're used to,' Deutsche Bank chief economist Michael Spencer said yesterday.
'It was quite surprising how aggressive he seemed . . . he was a little bit more bearish than we thought he would be.'
Asian economies have seen their growth prospects dwindle amid weakening export demand from the US.
