US president George W Bush has nominated the boss of the freight transportation company CSX, John Snow, to be his new treasury secretary.

Mr Snow will replace Paul O'Neill who stepped down on Friday.

The Washington Post has also reported that former Goldman Sachs chairman Steven Friedman is to replace Lawrence Lindsey as chief economic adviser to President Bush.

Mr Bush, on making the appointment, said there was "important work ahead to bring new economic growth" to the US.

He added: "I'll be proposing specific steps to increase the momentum of our economic recovery. And the Treasury Secretary will be at the centre of this effort."

Mr Snow's appointment has still to be confirmed by the US Senate.

Lawyer and economist

Mr Snow would bring a number of skills to the job.

Mr Snow joined CSX in 1977

The 63-year-old railway executive is both a former transportation department official, a former law professor and a former economics professor.

Observers say he has the political skills needed to sell his ideas for economic reform to Americans as the 2004 presidential election campaign gets underway.

President Bush will also be hoping that Mr Snow will gain the respect of Wall Street.

Mr Snow has recently been serving as the co-chairman of Conference Board commission on corporate governance.

In September, Mr Snow was scathing about the number of US corporate scandals, such as Enron, which had come to light.

"These egregious failures evidence a clear breach of the basic contract that underlines corporate capitalism," he said.