The U.S. agreed to speed up approvals for Chinese financial institutions seeking to invest in the country, as Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson tries to find ways to unlock frozen credit markets and stabilize banks.The announcement was made in a joint statement at the close of two days of bilateral talks between China and the U.S. in Beijing. The U.S. also welcomed “commercially based” investments by China’s sovereign wealth fund and the foreign- exchange administration in industries including financials.The U.S. has pledged more than $8.5 trillion to rescue its financial ...
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson is considering a new plan to reduce mortgage rates in another bid to revive the U.S. housing market, a government official said.
The Treasury, which already has a program to buy mortgage- backed securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, could step up those purchases to drive down interest rates on some loans to 4.5 percent, the official said on condition of anonymity. The plan is preliminary and could change.
The deliberations come as President-elect Barack Obama pledges fresh action to help American homeowners, and follow a $600 billion initiative ...
With weekly jobless claims benefits at a 16-year high, the White House said Thursday that President George W. Bush would sign quickly legislation pending in Congress to provide further unemployment benefits.The Senate is expected to take up this week a bill, already passed by the House of Representatives, that would extend unemployment insurance checks for up to 13 additional weeks for jobless people whose benefits have run out. The Senate vote could occur as early as Thursday evening and would require support from 60 senators to pass.White House press secretary Dana Perino, discussing the ...
