Paulson says recovery will take time

WASHINGTON, Nov. 18 (UPI) -- U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. told members of Congress Tuesday to look beyond Wall Street to find the effects of the financial bailout.

The $700 billion Emergency Economic Stabilization Act was "not a panacea for all our economic difficulties," Paulson told members of the House Financial Services Committee in a prepared statement.

"The crisis in our financial system had already spilled over into our economy and hurt it," he said. "It will take a while to get lending going and repair our financial system, which is essential to an economic recovery."

On the other hand, Paulson told the committee stock markets were not the first place to look for success of the bailout bill. "We were focused on the credit markets because they provide our basic economic fuel -- borrowing and lending capital," he said.

Such credit, he said, "creates jobs."

"At the risk of oversimplification, the financial rescue package is about restoring confidence," he said.

He added, the bill had accomplished its first mission. "By mid-October, our actions, in combination with the FDIC's guarantee of certain debt issued by financial institutions, helped us to accomplish the first major priority, which was to immediately stabilize the financial system."