US government rescues mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac
Updated on 07 September 2008
In one of the biggest financial bailouts in history, the US government has taken over the country's two largest mortgage lenders, reports Jane Dodge.
It's Northern Rock write large. In the hope of warding off further damage to the housing market in the midst of the credit crunch, the US Treasury Secretary announced today that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be temporarily nationalised.
The two companies own or guarantee almost half of the country's 6.5 trillion pounds in outstanding home mortgage debt, and have suffered losses of nearly eight billion pounds in the past year.
