The prospect of rising US interest rates is not enough to derail a robust US economic recovery, Treasury Secretary John Snow said.
Speaking to reporters ahead of a closed-door breakfast session on Thursday with a group of business chiefs including discount brokerage founder Charles Schwab, Snow said higher market rates reflect the economy's growing strength.
"The business community accepts the fact that in a recovery one of the normal developments is increased demand for capital," Snow said. "I think they're just baking it into their plans as a normal part of what they'd expect in a recovery."
The US Federal Reserve is expected to raise its official federal funds rate a quarter percentage point from its current 1 percent - its lowest since 1958 - when its policy-setting Federal Open Market Committee meets June 29-30.