GE CEO Sees Signs of Recovery in Capital Markets
CNBC.com Writer
There are a number of indicators that are showing signs of stabilization in the economy, said Jeff Immelt, chairman and CEO of General Electric.
“Appliance sales have been below last year’s, but things seem to have stabilized,” Immelt said in a live interview on CNBC. “The demand for commercial lending in small businesses has grown dramatically. It was almost non-existent in the first quarter, but has grown in the second quarter. I see that as a generally positive sign.”
- Watch the full interview with Jeff Immelt here
GE is the parent company of CNBC and CNBC.com.
Immelt said that although consumers are going to have less credit coming out of the recession, this is going to be “an investment-led recovery.”
“People are going to have to start taking risks to take us out of this again,” said Immelt.
Immelt said it is important for the United States to lead in the energy sector.
“If you picked one place you want to lead in the 21st century, it’s energy,” he said. “So you need a broad-based energy policy, we need to be leading in green-energy and green-jobs. And I think you want to create a competitive export-based nation again.”
Immelt said he is a supporter of the cap-and-trade approach to energy, saying it’s the “most effective way to create a market.”
