US President George W. Bush has delivered Monday his final State of the Union address, focusing on economic issues.

Bush spoke before the joint Houses of Congress about "a period of uncertainty" in the US economy, which made the most significant part of the address, and urged that a stimulus bill be passed, CNN reported.

"In the long run, Americans can be confident about our economic growth. But in the short run, we can all see that growth is slowing," Bush said.

A major topic in the speech was expanding consumer choice and loosening of Governmental control.

"This is a good agreement that will keep our economy growing and our people working, and this Congress must pass it as soon as possible," Bush commented on agreed USD 150 billion package of tax rebates and measures aimed at spurring consumer spending.

Bush also discussed Iraq, saying that progress had been made, and that up to 20,000 troops would be returning to the US soon.

Despite the economic focus of Bush's speech compared to the priority given to the war on terror in previous six State of the Union speeches during his presidency, critics say the address was thin on promises.

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