WASHINGTON, Sept 14 (Reuters) - U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Monday that he did not think future tax increases were inevitable to tame the massive budget deficit.
Last month, Geithner and White House economic adviser Lawrence Summers had declined to rule out future tax increases to pay down the national debt.
"I think people recognize that these deficits are unsustainable. If we're going to have a stronger economy we have to bring them down," Geithner said when asked in a CBS News interview whether he thought a tax increase was inevitable to help pay off the debt created by the financial crisis.
Asked a second time if an across-the-board tax increase was inevitable, Geithner replied: "I don't think so, no."
The Obama administration stimulus spending and health care reform plans have met with a barrage of criticism from Republicans, who charge the government is running up a national debt that could smother the economy in the next decade.
The spending blitz could push the national debt, now more than $11 trillion, to close to $20 trillion. The debt is the total sum the government owes, while the deficit is the yearly gap between revenues and spending. (Writing by JoAnne Allen; Editing by Neil Fullick)