US tax reform coming soon, Treasury Sec. Mnuchin says

By Ovunc Kutlu

NEW YORK

President Donald Trump administration's promised tax reform will be announced soon, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Thursday.

The White House's plan to make a major overhaul to the country's tax system will come "very soon," Mnuchin said, in his speech at the Institute of International Finance Washington Policy Summit.

The Treasury Secretary did not offer a time frame but added he hopes it will not take until the end of this year for it to pass through Congress.

Mnuchin told Financial Times on Monday that passing a tax reform bill before the Congress' recess in August was "not realistic".

A tax reform bill has been one of the major promises of President Trump during his campaign for the Oval Office. However, the president made repealing Obamacare a priority, which ended in failure, leading him to shift his attention to tax reform.

Mnuchin's statement on Thursday had a positive impact on Wall Street, with all the three major indexes rallying on the news.

The Dow was up 0.9 percent, the S&P 0.8 percent, and the Nasdaq 1 percent, after the secretary's announcement.