The chief executive of Bank of America, Ken Lewis, has said the US economy is 'definitely slowing'. The remarks were in a speech he delivered at a financial conference in New York.
Lewis, who manages the largest US banking company, also said Bank of America anticipates setting aside $3.3 billion to cover fourth quarter losses and write-offs linked mainly to an ongoing housing slump.
'The economy is definitely slowing. We expect weak fourth and first quarters, but at this point we are not forecasting a recession,' he said.
The update comes after Bank of America's chief financial officer, Joe Price, said in mid-November that such losses and write-downs were likely to amount to $3 billion.
'While we do not make a practice of forecasting quarterly earnings, I think you certainly can assume results will again be quite disappointing,' Lewis said.
Bank of America's third quarter earnings fell 32% due to mortgage-related losses and problems in the US credit markets.
