‘Too hard to tell’ if US travel ban will be lifted, says Mnuchin

Steven Mnuchin, the US Treasury secretary, said it was “too hard to tell” if the US will loosen international travel restrictions affecting Asia and Europe this year, even as measures limiting domestic economic activity are lifted. US President Donald Trump was “looking about ways to stimulate travel”, Mnuchin said, but he suggested this effort would initially be limited to travel within the US. The Monday comments compounded a sell-off in airline stocks triggered by news over the weekend that Warren Buffett had sold his entire investment in the sector. The country’s three largest carriers — American Airlines, Delta and United — were the three worst performing stocks in the US S&P 500 index in lunchtime trading in New York, each down at least 8%. Asked if international travel would be “opened up this year”, Mnuchin said: “Too hard to tell at this point. I hope down the road it is ... Our priority is opening up the domestic economy.” He then added: “Obviously, for business people that do need to travel, there will be travel on a limited basis. But this is a great time for people to explore America.”<br/>