HispanicBusiness

The White House said U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner would remain at his post until President Barack Obama's second inauguration in January.

"Secretary Geithner has indicated he'll stay on through inauguration and he will be a key participant in the negotiations around the so-called fiscal cliff issue," said White House Press Secretary Jay Carney.

"The president very much appreciates that," Carney said.

Geithner will focus in his last months in office on preventing what has come to be known as the fiscal cliff -- a combination of mandated federal spending cuts and the end of income tax rate cuts enacted during the administration of former President George W. Bush -- CNNMoney reported Saturday.

Many economists say allowing the spending cuts to occur and the tax rates to rise would plunge the economy into a recession, one that might be far worse than the Great Recession that ended in June 2009.