Regions

US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said the US must not go through another government shutdown. Lew echoed his sentiments on NBC's "Meet the Press". He said, "We know that from the shutdown, there was a loss of economic activity. We need to make sure that government does not go through another round of brinkmanship. This can never happen again."

Lew, however, did not quantify the damage the shutdown brought to the US economy. According to Reuters, economists had estimated that the crisis had reduced up to half a percentage point the country's gross domestic product in the fourth quarter. Most of the loss was attributed to the federal government's loss of output.

Lew also stressed that focus should not be placed on fiscal policy alone. "Fiscal policy is very important. But there's a lot we need to do to build and grow this economy. We need some infrastructure. The farm bill needs to pass. The immigration bill is hugely important to the economy."