The U.S. Trade Secretary Steven Mnuchin insisted that Trump’s tax cuts will pay for themselves over a 10-year period, even considering that the near-term deficit is expected to reach the 1 trillion level.
“Our analysis has always been higher than CBO. As I’ve said previously, we believe that the tax cuts will pay for themselves over a 10-year period of time, it’s how we score them,” said Mnuchin when testifying in front of the Senate Finance Committee hearing, “Let me just comment that spending is increasing as well, but the trillion and a half dollars of tax cuts we have made will pay for themselves,” he added.
Mnuchin attributed the high deficit levels to high expenditure instead of low revenues, he also highlighted that republicans agreed to increase government spending against their preferences due to the democratic party pressure.
When asked about the coronavirus outbreak, Mnuchin said that he doesn’t expect the epidemic will have an impact beyond this year.
“I don’t expect the coronavirus will have an impact beyond this year,” he added, saying that the treasury department is monitoring the situation and that more data is needed to asses its economic effects.
By 10:15 GMT the greenback rose 0.09 percent against the loonie, at 1.3261. On the other hand it went down by 0.17 percent against the Swiss Franc, at 0.9765, conversely, it lost 0.38 percent against the Japanese Yen, at 109.67.
The Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said that Japan’s government is willing to take countermeasures against the Coronavirus outbreak.
Abe, who is making a more conciliatory stance towards China, also announced a 10.3 billion yen package to fight the epidemic that is expected to be discussed by the Japanese parliament on Friday.
Earlier today, the Japanese authorities reported an official coronavirus case, a male Japanese taxi driver from Tokyo.
By 10:23 GMT the Euro went down against the Japanese Yen by 0.26 percent, at 119.36.