Obama administration says cheap oil helping U.S. economy

"Lower oil prices are like a tax cut for the economy so in terms of the macroeconomic impact it's net a positive," Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said in an interview in New York that was broadcast by network CNBC.

He said America's energy boom means falling oil prices do have some economic drawbacks, but that this is unlikely to affect the level of output in the burgeoning shale energy sector.

"For the shale projects, I don't expect you're going to see a reduction in production," Lew said.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Andrea Ricci)