US Treasury secretary Mnuchin vows 'very significant' tax reform by August

Donald Trump's newly appointed Treasury secretary Steven Mnuchin has said that 'very significant' tax reforms will be in place in the US by August.

Mnuchin, the former Goldman Sachs executive, also said that Trump's administration plans to reach an economic growth level of 3% as early as 2018.

In one of his first interviews since becoming Treasury secretary, Mnuchin spoke to CNBC to give an insight into how his department would go about managing the US' current economic situation.

"The first, most important thing that will impact growth is a tax plan, so we are committed to pass tax reform. It will be very significant, it's going to be focused on middle income tax cuts, simplification and making the business tax competitive with the rest of the world," Mnuchin told the news network.

Mnuchin added that it is the Trump administration's aim to reach a "sustainable growth of 3% or more", and that the goal is to reach that target at sometime in 2018.

"There's an incredible amount of liquidity out there and we want to make sure banks put it to work," he added.

US DOLLAR STRENGTH

In another interview with the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, Mnuchin praised the strength of the US dollar, describing it as a 'good thing' in the long run.

"For longer-term purposes, an appreciation of the dollar is a good thing, and I would expect longer-term, as you’ve seen over periods of time, the dollar does appreciate," Mnuchin told the WSJ.

"In the short term, there are certain aspects (of a strong currency) that are positive about the dollar for our economy and there are certain aspects that are not as positive," Mnuchin added. "A lot of the appreciation of the dollar since the election in particular is a sign of confidence in the Trump administration and the economic outlook for the next four years."