The Hindu Business Line : Goldman Sachs CEO sees hopeful signs of US recovery

There are some `hopeful signs' of the recovery of the US economy, according to Mr Lloyd Blankfein, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Goldman Sachs Group.

"The decay in asset prices has slowed down and there are hopeful signs in the capital markets,'' he said while interacting with the students at Indian School of Business (ISB) here on Wednesday.

When asked about the likely duration of recession, he replied: "I don't know''.

He, however, observed that the feeling of completely falling off the cliff had gone and some dire concerns were removed.

On the performance of Goldman Sachs' group, Mr Blankfein said the business environment was not `ordinary' and he would remain optimistic.

"The investment banking activity is much lower while our transaction activity is above average.

"There are risks and backpeddlers. In general, I think we have gone through the crisis,'' he said.

Addressing students and some participants of `10, 000 Women' programme, launched by Goldman Sachs to train women in entrepreneurship by partnering with ISB last year, he said there was a link between growth and empowering women in business.

"Investing in women would increase the standard of life and ensure sustainable growth," said Mr Blankfein, who flew in his corporate jet, especially to participate in the two-hour programme, which is part of Goldman Sachs global initiative, focussed on the developing countries.

Stating that only 36 per cent of labour force in India was women (compared with 60 per cent average in Brazil, Russia, India and China - BRIC nations), he said higher women workforce would increase the gross domestic product by one per cent.

India was a vibrant economy with strong trends in demography, he said.

"We continue to invest in strong investment banking, securities and asset management presence here.

"Opportunity and growth in India remain as attractive as ever, '' he added.

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