WASHINGTON, Feb 20 (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent told “The Will Cain Show” on Fox News on Friday that he believed the U.S. economy could grow by at least 3.5% in 2026.
Bessent blamed the sharply lower growth of 1.4% in gross domestic product reported in the fourth quarter on a partial government shutdown and high write-offs of losses by U.S. automakers, saying GDP growth could have been 100 to 200 basis points higher.
“It was this longest shutdown in history that caused the fourth quarter to crash,” Bessent said.
(Reporting by Andrea Shalal, Bhargav Acharya and Ismail Shakil;Editing by David Ljunggren and Diane Craft)