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Congress must pass another round of coronavirus stimulus measures before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated in January, offering help to a U.S. economy that is still grappling with the fallout from the health crisis, said Monday. American Chamber of Commerce CEO Thomas Donohue at CNBC.
“The stimulus bill is essential, and the sooner it is done, the better it is for the beneficiaries of the stimulus and therefore the better for the markets and the economy,” Donohue said on “Closing Bell”.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Said last week that passing another pandemic relief bill was Congress’ “first job” after the election . “Hopefully the partisan passions that kept us from doing another bailout will subside with the election. And I think we have to do it, and I think we have to do it before the end of the year,” McConnell said.
Biden, a Democrat, was cast as the winner by NBC News and other media organizations on Saturday. However, Trump has yet to concede the election and his campaign is waging various legal battles in key states on the battlefield.
The American Chamber of Commerce congratulated Biden, the former vice president of President Barack Obama on Saturday. In a statement, Donohue said the business group was “ready to work with the Biden administration and leaders on both sides of the aisle to restore public health, revitalize our economy and help rebuild lives and communities. American communities “.
Democratic leaders and Trump administration officials failed to strike a stimulus deal ahead of the election, disagreeing over the size and scale of a possible relief package. These chasms between the two sides seem to persist.
However, Donohue said he was confident there would be a deal in the coming weeks that would help the battered economy, which has improved from the worst damage caused by the pandemic. In October, job gains exceeded expectations and helped bring the country’s unemployment rate down to 6.9%. Yet millions of people who lost their jobs during the pandemic remain without work.
“We are hopeful that there will be a commitment to do this before the inauguration, because it is quite far,” Donohue said. “And we think the parties should come together and move on, and I think they will.” The day of the inauguration is January 20.
Donohue also addressed the news about the coronavirus vaccine from Pfizer and BioNTech, which interim trial data has shown to be over 90% effective in preventing Covid-19 in people who had not been previously infected. The news was hailed by Wall Street, as shares soared on Monday. Some of the biggest winners of the session were those who would benefit from the end of the pandemic, such as airlines and other travel agencies.
Donohue offered a tempered outlook on the immediate benefits of Monday’s vaccine developments, noting that it will be months before the benefits are felt on the economy. Drug makers still need urgent regulatory approval, and distribution is a complex task. These realities make it even more important to boost the economy further, Donohue said.
“It’s probably February or March of next year before there is a serious supply available where it needs to be,” Donohue said. “All the more reason for sensible people to come together for the fourth effort to keep this economy running, keep people safe and take care of our citizens.”
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