Buffett: Higher gas prices won’t derail economic recovery

Billionaire investor Warren Buffett expressed confidence Monday that surging oil and gasoline prices won’t halt the country’s economic recovery.

“They’re a minus, but I don’t see them stopping things,” Buffett said on CNBC.

{mosads}Tensions with Iran and other factors have sent oil prices to their highest levels since last May, and pump prices are rising alongside crude oil costs.

“I’d rather have them a lot lower,” said Buffett, a supporter of President Obama. But he then added: “I do not think it will derail what has been going on now for almost three years, two and a half years — we have had a steady recovery.”

Regular gasoline is now averaging almost $3.70 per gallon nationwide, according to AAA, a gain of almost 30 cents per gallon in the last month.

Average nationwide prices were $3.35 per gallon at this time last year before eventually peaking at roughly $4.

The rising prices are a political threat to Obama, whose reelection campaign has been buoyed by good economic news in recent months.