Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin's full interview on supporting economy during crisis

Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin joins "Squawk on the Street" by phone to discuss what the government and the Federal Reserve are doing to support the U.S. economy during the Covid-19 pandemic as well as interest rates, mortgage postponement , the small business loan program and more.
Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin told CNBC on Monday the administration is unfazed with the federal government’s historic $3 trillion in spending to combat the impact of the coronavirus thanks to the nation’s very low interest rates.
“One of the reasons I do feel comfortable with us spending all this money is because interest rates are very low. And we’re taking advantage of long-term rates,” he told CNBC’s Jim Cramer “on “Squawk on the Street.” Between 10 years, 20 years, and 30 years, we’re borrowing an awful lot of money long term so that we can lock in this $3 trillion for a very, very long period of time.”
Mnuchin said the Treasury would stop short of an actual refinancing where it bought back existing debt. He said the White House wants to seize the opportunity afforded by low interest rates in a sort-of “refinancing” without repurchasing existing Treasury notes from the marketplace.
“We obviously don’t want to disturb the markets too much, but we’re going to take advantage of refinancing all of our debt to make sure that we have very low rates. I think that’s something that’s a great opportunity for us,” he said. “I don’t think we need to buy back debt. ... I think we have tremendous opportunities without having to buy back debt.”
The Treasury secretary’s comments came on the heels of historic government spending and emergency funding to help U.S. businesses cope with the fallout from the coronavirus pandemic.
President Donald Trump in March signed an unprecedented $2.2 trillion piece of legislation known as the CARES Act that included hundreds of billions of dollars in emergency funding for small businesses struggling through state-imposed commerce closures.
Governors from New York to California issued stay-at-home and business-closure orders throughout March in an effort to slow the spread of Covid-19, which has infected some 4.1 million worldwide and killed nearly 80,000 in the United States.
But the commerce halts in states throughout the U.S. have, in turn, sent the U.S. unemployment rate to its highest level since the Great Depression and put the nation on track for negative economic growth. The Commerce Department reported in late April that the U.S. GDP growth fell 4.8% in the first quarter, and many economists expected another decline in the three months ending June 30.
Long-term Treasury interest rates are trading near their lowest levels on record. The 10-year note yield was at 0.68% on Monday, down from 1.87% in December and north of 3% in 2018. The 30-year bond rate traded at 1.38%, down from 4.5% in 2011.
The combination of a significant spike in federal deficit spending and reduced tax revenues has forced the Treasury Department to think of new ways to help foster appetite for U.S. bonds. It announced last week that it will launch a new 20-year bond this month in an effort to fund a record $3 trillion in borrowing this quarter.
An auction on May 20 will feature a sale of $20 billion worth as part of an effort to push the record-setting debt levels further out in terms of duration.
“Treasury’s borrowing needs have increased substantially as a result of the federal government’s response to the Covid-19 outbreak,” Brian Smith, assistant secretary for federal finance, said Wednesday. “Over the next quarter, Treasury’s cash balance will likely remain elevated as Treasury seeks to maintain prudent liquidity in light of the size and relative uncertainty of Covid-19-related outflows.”
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[@jboy2621]

Losing Tesla would be a huge blow for Alameda County. There are hundreds of supporting companies who've invested millions to develop and deliver to Tesla. It took 10 years and a lot of Elon Musk to recover from the loss of Toyota/GM in 2009 in Fremont.

[@texasdad696]

They can use our money as much as they want but they won't let us use it.... it ain't right

[@breannamartins9992]

Must be easy to spend trillions when it’s our money

[@DAL201107]

Looking 4 to 5 years down the road, dear god we are in a lot of trouble. We are simply providing short term fixes at a horrific long term cost. We were already cornered with the fact that the FED could not allow rates to rise much past 2.5% or risk economic collapse, now we are facing a contracting economy, and a deflationary environment that will lead to the most painful economic depression the world has ever seen. The only way the economy was staying on the rails to begin with was debt fueled expansion that needed low rates to survive. Now, with 30+ million new unemployed and a collapsing GDP, the spiral will be uncontrollable. This idea that we are just waiting to open up the economy to get that V shaped recovery and get back to normal life is so delusional that it scares me that we are even more unprepared for the next wave than we were for the first. Not only are the markets going to be dysfunctional (credit, equity, and bond markets) but supply chain disruptions will be uncontrollable. Dr Gottlieb in a previous CNBC interview said we are only in the second inning of this. I was shocked at first, but realized he’s right. Because this could take a generation to recover from.

[@williamfoley6398]

God bless you and your family,Jim.stay healthy.God bless you and your family,Steven.stay healthy!

[@zrobert66]

Great interview! Thank you Blessings

[@jarule8065]

'Burn Baby Burn' has now become 'Print Baby Print'!

[@scorpio14og]

PPP is completely USELESS. Two months passed, no return from PPP (" we will contact you") The question is when?!

[@TheTheratfarmer]

explain it to me. will we have to pay, negative interest rates, to keep the cash in the banks?

[@rem9517]

trump freaked out when a staffer with covid-19 gets to close to him,but wants employee's to return to work in area's with a high infection. thats not right.

[@QueenJneeuQ]

@go00086 What if you got bills to pay? Christ.

[@cedennis1987]

@go00086 If employers want to open back up; they should do so safely. If they don't do so safely they should be open to law suits.

[@steveg6978]

Don't be fooled we are in a depression...the GOP has to get off the schnide !

[@aesma2522]

I don't understand what Cramer is asking for regarding the debt. Surely if the Treasury wants to buy back treasuries before their maturity, it must pay all future coupons on them ? Making the operation expensive, not saving anything. If it was somehow possible to buy them back without paying the coupons, the Treasury would be screwing savers, many of them pensioners, wouldn't it ?

[@asamarduk2597]

when do we go negative rates

[@lordhumongus8669]

Steve Mnuchin the Indy Mac 2008 Foreclosure King? Forbearance? Cramer you must be smoking some good stuff.

[@harrywissink842]

And although I am democratic I like steven mnuchin

[@SabbathSOG]

If I'm going to be interrogated going to a restaurant, I'm not going.

[@thebigcheese606]

They are counting on that.

[@debrajohnson5983]

Where is mine and others that is on Ssdi i got direct express card

[@stewartprofessionalservice9806]

Magna parts in zone 3 is back to work !!!! Stephen has adapted well at Treasury....m

[@debrajohnson5983]

And I think next time I think we should be first going out

[@srodriguez591]

Give us our stimulus checks this is why we have government, for these scenarios. We need to worry about the people not corporations they’ll be fine.

[@leon6306]

Sounds like the White House and the press , and government ppl been having a smoke session..😂

[@johnj8958]

10:43 "Being a borrower, we are going to take advantage of zero rates." Steven Mnuchin

[@bullterror5]

"In 1997, #Blavatnik and #Vekselberg teamed with Ukraine-born billionaire Mikhail #Fridman to buy a 40 per cent stake in TNK, a former state-owned oil company with interests in Siberian oilfields. In April 2017, he bought a controlling stake in film finance company #Ratpac-Dune Entertainment from Australian billionaire James #Packer for an undisclosed sum. The deal briefly made #Blavatnik a partner of #TreasurySecretary Steve #Mnuchin and producer Brett Ratner. Mnuchin divested his interest shortly thereafter to avoid potential conflicts of interest." *** *** *** *In 2005, a United States district court in Washington, D.C. dismissed a 2000 libel suit by Fridman and Petr Aven against the Center for Public Integrity over an online article which included a suggestion that they had been involved in **#Drug** **#Running** and **#OrganizedCrime**; the federal judge ruled that there was no evidence of actual malice on the part of the publication and that Fridman and Aven were limited public figures regarding the public controversy involving corruption in post-Soviet Russia.* " " *In May 2017 Fridman, along with fellow Alfa Bank owners Petr Aven and German Khan, filed a defamation lawsuit against BuzzFeed for publishing the unverified Donald Trump-Russia Dossier, which alleges financial ties and collusion between **#Trump**, and the three bank owners.* " *In October 2017 **#Fridman**, Aven, and Khan also filed a libel suit against the private-investigation firm **#Fusion** GPS and its founder Glenn Simpson, who had commissioned former MI6 agent Christopher **#Steele** to compile the dossier, for circulating the dossier among journalists and allowing it to be published.* " " *In April 2018 Fridman, Aven, and Khan filed a libel suit against Steele in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia, but the suit was dismissed with prejudice the following August* *** *** *** "WASHINGTON - U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven #Mnuchin declined to tell lawmakers who purchased his entertainment company, but promised it wasn’t a Russian. “I can assure you that it’s not a Russian oligarch or any Russian,” Mnuchin said Tuesday in testimony before the House Financial Services Committee. “I don’t believe I’ve ever met a Russian oligarch.” Mnuchin has faced questions over reports that a company linked to Ukrainian-born billionaire Len #Blavatnik purchased a stake in Mnuchin’s company #RatPac-Dune Entertainment in 2017, after he became Treasury chief. Democratic lawmakers have said such a transaction would create a conflict of interest for Mnuchin The Treasury Department said in a January letter that Mnuchin didn’t sell his stake in RatPac-Dune to Blavatnik or any of his firms, but didn’t identify the buyer. Mnuchin’s stake, which he was required to sell under an agreement with the Office of Government Ethics before he was confirmed as Treasury secretary, was sold to “a third party unconnected to Blavatnik,” Treasury said." www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2019/04/10/business/steve-mnuchin-denies-selling-entertainment-firm-russians-wont-reveal-buyers/#.XtVeVuoRU0M *** *** *** *Erik Prince Recruits Ex-Spies to Help Infiltrate Liberal Groups* "Erik Prince, the security contractor with close ties to the Trump administration, has in recent years helped recruit former American and British spies for secretive intelligence-gathering operations that included infiltrating Democratic congressional campaigns, labor organizations and other groups considered hostile to the Trump agenda, according to interviews and documents. One of the former spies, an ex-MI6 officer named Richard Seddon, helped run a 2017 operation to copy files and record conversations in a Michigan office of the American Federation of Teachers, one of the largest teachers’ unions in the nation. Mr. Seddon directed an undercover operative to secretly tape the union’s local leaders and try to gather information that could be made public to damage the organization, documents show. Using a different alias the next year, the same undercover operative infiltrated the congressional campaign of Abigail Spanberger, then a former C.I.A. officer who went on to win an important House seat in Virginia as a Democrat. The campaign discovered the operative and fired her. Both operations were run by Project Veritas, a conservative group that has gained attention using hidden cameras and microphones for sting operations on news organizations, Democratic politicians and liberal advocacy groups. Mr. Seddon’s role in the teachers’ union operation - detailed in internal Project Veritas emails that have emerged from the discovery process of a court battle between the group and the union - has not previously been reported, nor has Mr. Prince’s role in recruiting Mr. Seddon for the group’s activities. Mr. Prince, the former head of Blackwater Worldwide and the brother of Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, has at times served as an informal adviser to Trump administration officials. He worked with the former national security adviser Michael T. Flynn during the presidential transition. In 2017, he met with White House and Pentagon officials to pitch a plan to privatize the Afghan war using contractors in lieu of American troops. Jim Mattis, then the defense secretary, rejected the idea. Mr. Prince appears to have become interested in using former spies to train Project Veritas operatives in espionage tactics sometime during the 2016 presidential campaign. Reaching out to several intelligence veterans - and occasionally using Mr. Seddon to make the pitch - Mr. Prince said he wanted the Project Veritas employees to learn skills like how to recruit sources and how to conduct clandestine recordings, among other surveillance techniques. The group has also become intertwined with the political activities of Mr. Trump and his family. The Trump Foundation gave $20,000 to Project Veritas in 2015, the year that Mr. Trump began his bid for the presidency. The next year, during a presidential debate with Hillary Clinton, Mr. Trump claimed without substantiation that videos released by Mr. O’Keefe showed that Mrs. Clinton and President Barack Obama had paid people to incite violence at rallies for Mr. Trump. AFT Michigan sued Project Veritas in federal court, alleging trespassing, eavesdropping and other offenses. The teachers’ union is asking for more than $3 million in damages, accusing the group of being a “vigilante organization which claims to be dedicated to exposing corruption. It is, instead, an entity dedicated to a specific political agenda.” “Let’s be clear who the wrongdoer is here: Project Veritas used a fake intern to lie her way into our Michigan office, to steal documents and to spy - and they got caught. We’re just trying to hold them accountable for this industrial espionage." www.nytimes.com/2020/03/07/us/politics/erik-prince-project-veritas.html#click=t.co/cm5LzraVDk

[@MigueliCarlos]

Fed acted quickly and should have waited a little longer. Acted too fast and now we’re facing a unprecedented chart

[@debrajohnson5983]

Where is our 1200?

[@janestarr2613]

Who says phase 1 is over? You can't claim a victory lap until you see people stop dying!!!

[@dividedconquered3784]

Them greedy pigs are victorious in using this pandemic to profit right and left! Capitalist at it's finest!😏

[@MuscleNMind]

So... never?

[@brandonhernandez1437]

So what about mortgages what about rent, I’m now on unemployment and currently making $500 less a week then normal the last stimulus just covered back to bills and got me current for may but June is looking bleak

[@MrThe1234guy]

Just sell some of your Gold or Silver if you have to.

[@jonathanandrew2909]

Brandon Hernandez get a new job. Take anything. This is just the 3rd inning of the ball game.

[@tylaferrill6589]

3000 a month is nothing to sneeze at

[@harrywissink842]

Sounds good Let’s be patient how the next 4 weeks turn out Restaurants and malls start opening Only tourism worries me

[@coryg121]

You don’t solve a debt problem with more debt.

[@nalejbank]

The free market needs to be left ALONE! We don't want or need government directed controls over our lives and activities. We don't need another two, three or four trillion in public dept! We need government to be half of its size and half of its weight and we will prosper just fine!

[@TheTheratfarmer]

negative interest rates? first, diseases can be cured, viruses can not. second, negative interest rates mean what for humans with cash in the banks?

[@jmaietta]

Mr. Centralized Govt. Jim Cramer. The Administrative State's biggest booster. How about allowing the states, local government and local businesses to have some autonomy Jim? They are more informed about local state of affairs than is D.C.

[@franciscorezzett4265]

Kramer talking to his boss

[@Jonathanjonathan899]

Sounds like he is smoking a bong

[@SabbathSOG]

The federal government is not responsible for bailouts to any state.

[@alberto562]

Truthsabre7 Yes it’s only responsible to bail out private corporations. WTF!!!!

[@kilgoringtroutless6295]

No they are not but....having state and local governments lay off hundreds of thousands of workers and cut hundreds of billions of dollars in spending to offset reduced tax revenues caused by the virus while we are trying to get the economy back on track would be up there with the stupidest ideas of all time. We are talking about republicans though so...might happen.

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

They sure as hell should not be bailing out Corporations.

[@cmoneytheplayer]

Refinancing debt long term

[@doctorcameltoe]

the numbers are gonna get better ya'll... everyone will make that sweet cheddar at their nonexistent job, then they'll rush out to spend that cheddar at the stores - half of which will still be closed and where items will now be priced double or even triple :P woohoooo!!

[@peggybagshaw6803]

Will someone please tell me where is my stimulus check. It's nice and simple SSDI dnt file taxes no dependents and still no check through Direct express

[@ozman7576]

They are not tacking at the end. Which banks are doing that? Liar !!

[@aniccasmith9947]

Each State Governor Must Take Care Of Their Own State....The Federal Government Is Here To Assist To Fight Back COVID-19 Crisis Only....President Trump Is Doing A Great Job To Assist In Many Ways...:)) DO YOUR JOB GOVERNOR....NO FED BAILOUT.

[@rexmundi273]

To all 20 and 30 years olds: Work as less as possible, pay as less as possible taxes, there will be no pension for us. They just print money out of nothing, so what's the point of working?

[@MrThe1234guy]

Pensions were gone many years ago. Good luck collecting on the few that remain. Does not mean not to work hard and save hard assets. Save in real money not monopoly notes. Gold and Silver will be the last man standing when the fiat ponzi scheme explodes.

[@nicopono1]

Nutcases!

[@vernefits1953]

The only way is up. things will get better!

[@erwinlbj462]

MY FATHER DONALD J TRUMP.......... AND SENATOR ERWIN TRUMP........................... ( SENATOR WILAYAH INDEPENDENT )................................

[@stevengarcia877]

best Kramer interview ever ... Mnuchin keeps telling ,"no , you're wrong ,JIM " ... "no , it doesn't work that way " and Kramer just keeps going on ... talk about a dope !!!... garce

[@jw1438atx]

This is so pathetically sad, Kramer the millionaire hot mic's a giant YESSS @ 15:17 because it's like a signed check for bailout $ in his eyes after he relentlessly pushes Mnuchin to comment about restaurants.

[@stevengarcia877]

Mnuchin is handling him very well ... " no JIM , you are wrong " ... lol ... garce

[@jonathansalem4]

Losing a lot of respect for Jim Cramer through all of this

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

Oh god...the Trump mouthpiece.

[@USASPORTSCARDS]

Steve Mnuchin lost me after this interview. This was hard to listen to

[@tylaferrill6589]

I know blah, Blah, blah

[@nicopono1]

Where's my $2000 a month! Refinance and get it to me!

[@Bradgilliswhammyman]

Unlikely to happen unless the Democrats throw another 1/2 trillion dollar slush fund for Trump and his goons.

[@zerocovidfucks6497]

Sell books PEGGING PINOCCHIO it’s about a littlelyingcreepydrX It’s gonna sell