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US spells out plan to help banks
The US government has fleshed out a plan to buy up to $1 trillion worth of US banks' "toxic assets" in a bid to prevent further economic turmoil.News of the scheme lifted stock markets on Monday despite doubts over private sector participation and questions about who, banks or taxpayers, will end up paying the most for the clean-up. The Public-Private Investment Programme, as it is known, also got a vote of confidence from China, the biggest holder of US government debt, which said it would continue to buy US treasuries. The move to help banks resume normal lending is central to efforts by Barack Obama, the US president, to revive the economy. In late morning trading on Monday the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 297.96 points, or 4.1 per cent, to 7,576.34 points, while European stocks also closed higher. And the US received further positive economic news on Monday with the National Association of Realtors saying that sales of existing homes grew 5.1 per cent to an annual rate of 4.72 million last month from 4.49 million units in January - the largest sales jump since July 2003. Posted by: Fred 2009-03-24 |
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