WASHINGTON: US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said that there is a risk that US economic recovery could take a long time, but vowed to take all necessary steps to speed it up.

"Well, that's the risk," Geithner said in a PBS television interview on Friday when asked if the recovery could take several years.

"I mean, people -- economists generally worry that a recession that comes after a long period where people borrowed too much, banks took on too much risk -- requires a slower, longer recovery, because people have to reduce debt, they're going to have to save more," the treasury secretary pointed out.

But he promised that the administration of President Barack Obama was "going to do everything" it can to accelerate the process.

"We're laying the foundation for a more sustainable, more balanced, more healthy recovery for this economy," Geithner noted.