The Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., delivered a guardedly optimistic message to business leaders on Friday, saying that the economy was moving toward a rebound after months of malaise.

“We are still working through housing and capital markets issues, and expect to be doing so for some time,” he said in remarks at a conference sponsored by The Washington Post. “We also expect to see a faster pace of economic growth before the end of the year.”

Playing an important role, he said, would be roughly $100 billion in stimulus payments to Americans over the next few months.

“The fiscal stimulus will provide support to the economy as we weather the housing correction, capital markets turmoil, and higher energy and food prices,” he said.