Washington  - Timothy Geithner, US Treasury secretary nominee of new President Barack Obama, promised swift and "forceful" action to revive the shrinking US recession amid a flurry of economic policy activity during Obama's first day in the White House Wednesday.

Geithner's pledge came during a confirmation hearing in the US Senate, where legislators weighed the benefits of his close involvement in tackling the financial turmoil of the last year against a damaging personal tax scandal that emerged last week.

Obama held a private meeting later Wednesday with his chief economic advisers to map out a strategy for addressing the economic crisis, which could be the worst since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Geithner told Congress that Obama would present a "comprehensive plan" in the coming weeks.

Obama's centre-left Democrats, who hold congressional majorities, have already begun work on an 825-billion-dollar stimulus package - the centrepiece of the administration's plans.

But the stimulus could face stiff opposition from the opposition Republicans in the House of Representatives, who asked Wednesday for a face-to-face meeting with Obama to address their concerns.

If confirmed, Geithner would become the face of Obama's efforts to stabilize the US economy and crumbling financial system. The scale of that task was reinforced during Obama's inauguration Tuesday, as a massive sell-off in bank shares led a more than 4-per-cent decline in Wall Street stock indices. Stocks largely rebounded in Wednesday trading.

To stabilize the economy, "the most prudent course is the most forceful course," Geithner told the Senate Finance Committee, offering few specific details.

Geithner warned of a "severe recession here and around the world" and promised to enlist other countries and their financial officials in efforts to revive the global economy while reforming financial regulations.

"This is a global crisis. It's going to require a global response," he said.

Some economists have criticized the response of governments around the world as a series of uncoordinated national stimulus measures, despite November's emergency summit in Washington of the world's 20 largest economies. A follow-up summit, the first to be attended by Obama, is scheduled for April in London.

On Wednesday, US carmaker General Motors received a second batch of government money as part of emergency financing offered last month to keep the "big three" US automotive firms afloat. With the latest tranche of 5.4 billion dollars, GM alone has already borrowed 9 billion dollars and could draw on another 4 billion dollars next month.

The key to the United States' own recovery was reversing the "catastrophic loss of confidence" among consumers in the world's largest economy, Geithner said.

He promised to refine a 700-billion-dollar financial rescue package passed by Congress in October. The Obama administration would use the remaining half of that money to revive lending by banks, which have sharply curtailed loans for homes, cars, student tuition and small businesses as a result of their devastating exposure to the US housing market collapse.

As head since 2003 of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, which implements the US central bank's monetary policy on Wall Street, Geithner already played a key role in the former Bush administration's efforts to stabilize the financial system since September's meltdown.

Geithner faced a series of questions about his failure to pay 34,000-dollar in pension taxes during four years that he spent working for the International Monetary Fund.

Geithner thought the IMF was already withholding the money, as most US employers do. He paid part of the taxes and penalties when the mistake was uncovered in a 2006 audit by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) and the rest when nominated in November.

Geithner blamed the tax issue on "careless mistakes, they were avoidable mistakes, but they were unintentional." Some senators questioned whether such a mistake was suitable for the man who is set to become head of the Treasure, which includes the tax-collecting IRS.

The scandal forced Geithner's confirmation hearing to be postponed last week, as Republicans on the committee demanded more time to investigate. The delay means Obama's economic team is not yet in place as he takes office, but Geithner's nomination is still expected to be approved as early as next week.

The conflict gave the committee a "difficult road to travel" as they weigh Geithner's shortcomings against the urgency of dealing with the US economy, Republican Senator Chuck Grassley said.

"To some, (Geithner) isn't merely the best choice, to some he's the only choice" to revive the economy, said Grassley, who said that the committee must ask: "How does this tax history reflect on his judgement?" (dpa)