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US bailout 'will be rolled out quickly'

By Wang Lan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-10-10 08:46

In a move to ease worries over the worsening US financial crisis, a senior US Treasury official said Thursday the $700 billion bailout will be executed soon to ease the credit seizure that is threatening to plunge the global economy into a recession.

"We will move forward very quickly to execute the rescue program to bring back confidence to the market," David H. McCormick, under-secretary for international affairs of the Treasury, told Chinese media in a teleconference.

The unusual press conference is widely seen to be of particular significance because China is one of the major creditors of the US government through its large holding of US treasury bonds.

"We will begin to execute the program in a matter of weeks, not months," said McCormick, adding that the US government is focused on rolling out the program not only speedily, but also in a comprehensive and effective way.

McCormick said the US welcomes not only China but also other countries around the world to invest in the country.

"The thing that we do try to do is to ensure that the US economy remains very open to, and encouraging of, foreign investment, so we welcome China's investment in a variety of ways in the US, and we welcome other countries' investment too," he said.

McCormick said that as the financial turmoil is still unfolding, it is still too early to assess the full extent of the impact, and predicted that the next several quarters will be a very challenging time for the US and the global economy.

He called for coordinated efforts to confront the challenges.

"It is very important that we cooperate and communicate," McCormick said.

He added that the US government is paying close attention to the impact of the credit crisis on emerging economies, given their increasingly important role in driving global growth.

He also said he expects the G7 and IMF meetings, which will be held this weekend, will help bring major countries together to work out a solution to the current crisis.

"We are all affected by it, and strengthened international collaboration is needed now more than ever to find collective solutions to achieve stable and efficient financial markets and restore the health of the world economy," he said earlier.