Immelt made his remarks during an appearance on CNBC, a cable television property owned by the sprawling industrial and financial conglomerate.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co. <GE.N> Chairman Jeff Immelt said on Wednesday banks will have to make acquisitions in 2008 to boost earnings and said US consumers will have a tough year in 2008.
Immelt made his remarks during an appearance on CNBC, a cable television property owned by the sprawling industrial and financial conglomerate.
He also said GE's commercial finance arm will likely capitalize on the turbulence roiling financial markets. He said distressed funding deals can produce returns of up to 30 percent.
On Tuesday, Immelt said he expects GE's profit to rise at least 10 percent in 2008.
!ADVERTISEMENT!Immelt said the U.S. consumer will have a tough year in 2008 as mortgage defaults escalate and housing prices fall.
But with near full employment rates, Immelt said the U.S. economy does not necessarily have to slow down.
A director on the board of the New York Federal Reserve Bank, Immelt said central banks around the world have to move in a cohesive way to make sure the liquidity crisis doesn't get worse.
"Liquidity repricing doesn't need to cause a recession," Immelt said. "There is still liquidity out there. Central banks around the world have to work together to make sure this doesn't become a bigger crisis. They can do this and they have the tools to do this and they've got to play that role."
(Reporting by Tim McLaughlin, editing by Derek Caney)
