WASHINGTON (REUTERS) - Mr Jack Lew was sworn in as US Treasury secretary on Thursday, a White House official said, after winning bipartisan support in the Senate.

Mr Lew, a budget expert and former chief of staff for President Barack Obama, was confirmed by the Senate on Wednesday with 20 Republicans voting for him.

He replaces Mr Timothy Geithner, a former regulator with the New York Federal Reserve who left the Treasury last month.