RIYADH: Goldman Sachs Chairman Lloyd Blankfein has urged companies and consumers to prepare for a recession in the US, which would pose very high risks, Bloomberg reported. 

“If I were running a big company, I would be very prepared for it,” Blankfein said. “If I was a consumer, I’d be prepared for it.”

The Fed has very powerful tools to reduce inflation, and has been responding well, the former CEO of Goldman Sachs said. 

Goldman's economic team expects US gross domestic product to expand 2.4 percent this year, down from 2.6 percent, according to Bloomberg. 

The US also lowered its GDP estimate for 2023 to 1.6 percent from 2.2 percent.