U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has informed President Barack Obama that he will remain on his job, the Treasury Department said in a statement Sunday, Xinhua reported.
Geithner, the last remaining top official on Obama's original economics team, "looks forward to the important work ahead on the challenges facing our great country," Treasury Department spokeswoman Jenni Lecompte said in the statement.
Meanwhile, White House spokesman Jay Carney said that Geithner made the decision after President Obama asked him to stay on his job after a debt ceiling deal was reached with the Congressional Republicans earlier the week to narrowly avoid a U.S. default.
Obama, who talked with Geithner on Friday, was pleased with Geithner's decision, Carney said in a statement released on Sunday.
Geithner's statement was released after the ratings agency Standard & Poor's stripped the U.S. of it triple-A credit rating, in a historic move that has caused widespread anxiety and worries across the world markets.
S&P said that its decision on the downgrade of U.S. debts reflected its view that "the effectiveness, stability, and predictability of American policymaking and political institutions have weakened at a time of ongoing fiscal and economic challenges. "
Geithner has come under attack from Republican lawmakers for the downgrade, which they blamed on the Obama administration's mismanagement of the country's finances.
There were rumors in late June that Geithner was considering resignation once a deal on raising the U.S. debt ceiling was reached with the Congress before the Aug. 2 deadline, as he was tired of commuting to New York where his son will be finishing high school.