UNITED States Ambassador to Australia Jeffrey Bleich says the US economy is well on its way to recovery, presenting a bullish perspective on the superpower’s outlook.
Mr Bleich told guests at a Business News Success & Leadership breakfast in Perth this morning that the shale gas boom was a “game changer” for the US domestic economy, pointing to recent record highs in the Dow Jones and S&P 500 as proof foreign investors were returning to the market.
He also said that, despite last year's fears about the 'fiscal cliff', the US Congress was getting the government budget under control.
“I’d say within a month we’re going to have a set of budget numbers which establish that we have put our house back in order,” he said.
“We’ve raised revenues a bit, we’ve decreased spending quite a bit, we have taken $US4 trillion out of our (deficit) and that’s why all the money is coming in from the sidelines from foreign markets.
“That’s why the Dow Jones is going up, the S&P is going up and I think they’re going to continue to rise.”
In an expansive conversation with Business News editor Mark Beyer, Mr Bleich discussed his long-time friendship with US President Barack Obama, the relationship between the US and China, and the prospects for shale-gas exports in the years to come.
The US had “completely revolutionised” its energy mix in recent years, he said, driving a resurgence in the nation’s manufacturing sector and a steady decline in unemployment.
“We are now going to be the number one producer of oil in the world, overtaking Saudi Arabia. We have the lowest cost natural gas in the world and that gas is mostly being used for domestic markets, which is reducing the costs of everything that we manufacture as a result,” Mr Bleich said.
Mr Bleich earlier this week announced the opening of a commercial services office at the US consulate general in Perth, allowing local businesses to connect with thousands of companies in the US.
He said the office reflected "a statement of absolute commitment" to a long-term economic relationship with Western Australia and hailed the establishment of US companies such as Chevron, Apache, ExxonMobil and General Electric in Perth in recent years.
A comprehensive wrap of Mr Bleich’s appearance at the Success & Leadership breakfast will appear in next Thursday’s print edition of Business News.