WASHINGTON: The government’s drastic economic rescue efforts will eventually pay off, President George W. Bush insisted on Friday, offering calming words to anxious Americans but no suggestions of a quick revival.

The economy didn’t falter overnight, “and it’s going to take a while for the credit system to thaw,” Bush said, speaking across a park from the White House at the US Chamber of Commerce building, a symbolic headquarters of American business.

Bush defended the recent deep government intrusions into private business, which would have been extraordinary for any US administration but have been particularly so for a Republican president.

“I would oppose such measures under ordinary circumstances,” Bush said. “But these are not ordinary circumstances.”

Seeking to calm fearful investors, Bush said the steps were “big enough and bold enough to work.”—AP