Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said the Troubled Asset Relief Program was “proving effective” in stabilizing the financial system, but he said Treasury must strike a “delicate balance” between market forces and government intervention.

Echoing comments from Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke, Geithner said the government will have to scale back their agenda once economic recovery begins.

"We must get our fiscal house in order or risk having government borrowing crowd out productive private investment," he said in prepared testimony to the House Appropriations subcommittee on Thursday.

The Treasury Secretary also said recovery in the U.S. was dependent on recovery abroad.

“Our financial reform effort in the United States must be matched by similarly strong efforts elsewhere in order to succeed.”