WASHINGTON (Reuters) — U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said a rapid recovery from the COVID-19 crisis in the United States would boost overall global growth, but more efforts were needed to shore up weaknesses the pandemic exposed in the financial sector, global supply chains and the social safety net.

In a wide-ranging discussion with the leaders of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, Yellen said the Biden administration had decided to “go big” with its COVID-19 response to avert the negative impact of long-lasting unemployment, and the U.S. economy was now expected to return to full employment next year.

But she said the crisis had dealt a huge blow to other countries, and it was the responsibility of advanced economies to ensure that years of progress in reducing poverty were not reversed by the crisis.

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