Hints of second US stimulus plan

Steny Hoyer said he believed the current measures were working

A senior US Democrat has said that legislators must be willing to consider the possibility of a second economic stimulus package.

Steny Hoyer, majority leader in the House of Representatives, said it was too early to tell if the current $787bn (£488bn) package was working.

Laura Tyson, an economics aide to the president, also said a new package of infrastructure stimulus may be needed.

The comments have been cited as factors behind Wall Street share price falls.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closed down almost 2% on Tuesday as investors worried that the US recovery from the current recession may not be as swift as had been hoped.

Waiting game

Mr Hoyer said Congress should not rule out the possibility of a new stimulus package.

"I think we need to be open to whether we need additional action," he said.

But he added that he did feel that the current measures were working.

"We believe there are a lot of people who otherwise would have been laid off, lost their jobs, who haven't done that," he said.

Speaking at a forum in Singapore, Ms Tyson said that it was too early to say how big any infrastructure-based package would need to be, saying that the situation would be clearer towards the end of 2009.

She stressed she was outlining her own views and not those of the Obama administration.

However, Senate majority leader Harry Reid said could not see any evidence that more stimulus spending was needed, saying the shoots of recovery "are now appearing above the ground".