US leaders looking to close bailout deal

US political leaders were today making a final push for an agreement on a $700bn bailout for the nation’s troubled financial markets.

Members of Congress from both the Democrat and Republican parties have so far failed to agree on the details of the plan which is intended to rescue the banking sector from bad loans that are choking up the financial markets.

President George Bush and US Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson have said the deal is vital if the US is to avoid a “long and painful recession”.

House and Senate leaders are working through the weekend in an effort to agree on the proposals to prop up the US economy before the Asian financial markets reopen early on Monday.

Democratic senate majority leader Harry Reid said he was hopeful that an announcement could be made by 6pm EDT (10pm Irish Time) today, just hours before the Asian markets start trading.

“The goal is to come up with a final agreement by Sunday. We may not be able to do that, but we’re trying very hard,” he said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi expressed confidence that negotiators would strike a deal by today, but others were less certain.

House Minority Leader John Boehner told reporters yesterday: “There are a lot of issues still on the table. We should not be bailing out Wall Street on the backs of American taxpayers.”

Earlier, President Bush acknowledged that many Americans were frustrated and angry that up to $700bn of taxpayers’ money may be needed to cover Wall Street’s mistakes.

Many House Republicans object to several parts of the administration’s approach. Negotiators sought to accommodate enough of their demands to entice a reasonable number them to back the eventual plan, which is likely to be unpopular with many voters.

Democrats and administration officials said they were willing to include House Republicans’ idea of having the government insure distressed mortgage-backed securities – but only as an option, not a replacement for the idea of buying those bad assets.