Washington  - Timothy Geithner, chosen to be Treasury secretary by the newly inaugurated President Barack Obama, warned Wednesday that an already weak economy could suffer even greater damage and pledged swift action to address the ongoing financial crisis if he is confirmed.

Geithner's comments came in a critical confirmation hearing in the US Senate, where legislators weighed his close involvement in the financial crisis against a damaging tax scandal that emerged last week.

Washington  - US president-elect Barack Obama's pick for Treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, will have to wait until next week for a confirmation hearing in the Senate amid questions about his failure to pay taxes earlier this decade.

The Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday postponed its confirmation hearing until January 21, one day after Obama's inauguration, after Republicans on the committee objected to an earlier date.

Washington  - President-elect Barack Obama Monday unveiled the economic team that will attempt to steer the United States away from a protracted recession, naming Timothy Geithner to head the US Treasury and Larry Summers as his top White House economic advisor.

Geithner, currently the president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will be tasked with rescuing the financial industry from its worst crisis since the Great Depression when the new administration takes over on January 20.

Geithner, 47, has already worked closely with current Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke since the financial crisis spiralled out of control in September.

Washington  - Timothy Geithner, a career civil servant heavily involved in current efforts to bring stability to the crumbling US financial system, offers a large degree of continuity as president-elect Barack Obama's Treasury secretary.

Geithner, who was named to the post Monday, has been battling the current credit crisis for more than a year as president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. Come January, he will be in charge of rescuing the United States from the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Since the US mortgage market collapse sent Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc into bankruptcy in September, Geithner has become a key player in the government's attempts to halt the downward spiral of the US financial system.

Washington  - New York Federal Reserve Chairman Timothy Geithner is set to become US treasury secretary in president-elect Barack Obama's administration, US broadcaster NBC reported Friday.

Obama will unveil his entire economic team including Geithner on Monday, offering some clarity on who will manage the world's largest economy in a time of global economic crisis.