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(CEP News) - The U.S. government will move ahead with its plan to buy equities in financial institutions, according to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on Friday evening, who said the Bush administration is developing a "standardized program" allowing the U.S. to purchase "a broad array of financial institutions."
The action will mark the most direct government action into financial markets since the Great Depression. The program's aim is to complement private funding by restoring confidence. Paulson announced the plan as the Group of Seven finance ministers released a five-point, joint-action statement to restore market confidence. "As we develop plans to purchase equity ... we are working to develop a standardized program that is open to a broad array of financial institutions," the Secretary said, adding that the government will buy equity as soon as possible. "Trust me, we are not wasting time; people are working around the clock to deal with this," he said. The program to buy stocks is in addition to the $700 billion rescue package to purchase toxic assets from troubled institutions. In a Q&A session following the announcement, Paulson had no comment on this new program's cost versus the rescue package. By Patrick McGee,
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, edited by Nancy Girgis,
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