Warren Buffett, the billionaire chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said U.S. federal spending cuts known as sequestration are a “meat-ax” approach to reducing the deficit.

“It’s a very dumb way of attacking a very serious problem,” Buffett said in an interview on CNBC. “The deficit is going to come down and it needs to come down and it will come down, and we may be doing it in a meat-ax way in this particular move.”



He doesn't think the cuts will slow down the U.S. economy too much. "We're continuing to see a slow recovery," he said. "It hasn't taken off, but it hasn't stopped either," he said. "It's not galloping at all, but we are making progress bit by bit. Everybody would love to see it faster. But it's not going into reverse and I do not think the sequester will cause it to go into reverse."



Editor’s Note: Put the World’s Top Financial Minds To Work For You



He also thinks that the government will eventually somehow reduce the deficit.



"We're going to bring down spending. We're going to bring up revenues. We may get there in fits and starts. And everybody may scream each time we do it. But the deficit is going to come down. It needs to come down."

Editor’s Note:

Put the World’s Top Financial Minds To Work For You

In a wide-ranging interview, Buffett touched on a variety of topics.• Buffett still sees "good value" in stocks, even as the Dow Jones Industrial Average approaches an all-time high.• Buffett says he doesn't consider macroeconomic trends when buying a business. It's more important to be in the right business at the right price, he says.• Buffett says he has “enormous respect” for Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke.• Buffett said suspicious options activity the day before the $23 billion acquisition of H.J. Heinz was announced was "clearly insider trading." He hopes authorities will "nail that guy."