Fed chief to see Congress
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September 18, 2001: 5:25 p.m. ET
Greenspan to meet leaders of House, Senate, according to report
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan plans to meet with U.S. congressional leaders Wednesday in the wake of the worst terrorist attacks in U.S. history, according to a published report.
Republican and Democratic leaders in the House of Representatives and the Senate, White House economic adviser Lawrence Lindsey and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin are expected to take part in the meeting, scheduled for 3:00 p.m. ET, according to a Reuters report Tuesday.
The meeting comes as Congress weighs new measures aimed at bolstering the U.S. economy and the airline industry and two days after the central bank cut interest rates by a half percentage point.
The cut was designed to boost consumer confidence in wake of terrorist attacks that destroyed the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and caused the crash of an airliner in rural Pennsylvania. It was also designed to give U.S. stock markets a lift on the first day of trading after a four-day hiatus.
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Economists have worried that falling stock prices and uncertainty could curb consumer spending, sinking the already fragile U.S. and global economies into recession.
The Fed's cut Monday was its eighth of the year, bringing its target for short-term rates from 6.5 percent to 3.0 percent, and more cuts could be on the way.
- from staff and wire reports
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