British Chancellor of the Exchequer Alistair Darling (L) is pictured during a joint press conference with US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson at Lancaster House, in London, on July 3, 2008. US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Thursday that the US economy would most likely be stronger at the end of 2008, even as oil prices surged to new records above 146 dollars. "I think there is a very strong possibility that we will be growing at the end of the year. We will have stronger growth at the end of the year than we have right now," he said during a press conference after talks with his British counterpart Alistair Darling. AFP PHOTO/Simon Dawson/POOL