US President, Barack Obama, has outlined 75 billion US dollars in government spending with a plan to pump money into the crashing housing sector.
The plan hopes to prevent millions of Americans from losing their homes.
The huge infusion of federal cash is designed to bring the mortgage foreclosure crisis under control.
The housing slump that began last year has contributed greatly to the current financial crisis.
Barack Obama, US President, said, "In the end, all of us are paying a price for this home mortgage crisis. And all of us will pay an even steeper price if we allow this crisis to continue to deepen."
The plan aims to aid borrowers who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are currently worth, and borrowers who are on the verge of foreclosure.
The initiative is designed to help up to 5 million borrowers refinance. It also provides incentive payments to mortgage lenders in an effort to help up to 4 million borrowers on the verge of foreclosure.
Funding would come from the 700 billion dollar financial industry bailout passed by Congress last fall.
But Obama insists that his plan will rescue only those families who have played by the rules and acted responsibly.
Barack Obama, US President, said, "It will not help speculators who took risky bets on a rising market and bought homes not to live in but to sell."
Of the nearly 52 million US homeowners with a mortgage, more than a quarter of them owe more on their mortgage than their home is now worth.
Without the plan, up to 9 million Americans are set to lose their homes in the near future.
(CCTV February 19, 2009)
