Washington  - Timothy Geithner was confirmed as US Treasury secretary in a vote Monday by the US Senate, putting in place one of President Barack Obama's top officials responsible for rescuing the US economy.

But the 60-34 Senate vote indicated serious reservations about Geithner's nomination, after it emerged earlier this month that he had failed to pay 34,000 dollars in taxes during a period earlier this decade when he worked for the International Monetary Fund.

Geithner will lead Obama's efforts to stabilize the US financial industry and help get credit flowing again to the wider economy. He indicated last week that a "comprehensive plan" to address failing banks would be presented to Congress in the coming weeks.

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

But many Republicans and even some Democrats questioned whether Geithner was fit to head the Treasury - which is also in charge of the Internal Revenue Service - given his own tax problems.

"How can Mr Geithner speak with any credibility or authority as the chief tax enforcer?" asked Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who opposed Geithner's nomination.

Geithner called his failure to pay Social Security and Medicare taxes an innocent mistake resulting from an expectation that the IMF would withhold the taxes from his pay cheque as most US employers do - and he has since paid the taxes back.

Geithner also came under fire from some senators for his role in the financial crisis to date.

For some, his involvement since September has made him uniquely qualified to lead the effort to stabilize the financial system. But others questioned why he failed to warn of the crisis during his time as head of the New York Fed. (dpa)