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The US govts move to provide a subprime lending crisis bailout plan will help ease the impacts of American mortgage delinquencies on the economies of other countries including Thailand, Finance Minister Chalongphob said.
He said America's subprime lending woes appeared to be continuing to deteriorate.
Consequently the US Treasury Department has stepped up its efforts to cope with the problem and help relieve the burdens borne by homebuyers.
U.S. President George W. Bush outlined on Thursday steps the administration is taking to help American homeowners and called on Congress to join him in delivering relief to homeowners in need.
Under a plan negotiated by the administration with the private sector, up to 1.2 million homeowners could be eligible for assistance, Bush announced.
The plan, or HOPE NOW, is designed to help subprime borrowers who can at least afford the current, starter rate on a subprime loan, but will not be able to make the higher payments once the interest rate goes up, according to a press release issued by the White House.
The hope is that the five-year freeze will buy time for the housing sales and prices to start rising again. Such a rebound would enable homeowners to refinance their current adjustable rate mortgages into fixed-rate loans with more affordable monthly payments.
The announcement came after a report issued earlier Thursday by the Mortgage Bankers Association showed that home foreclosures surged to an all-time high in the third quarter.
Dr. Chalongphob said he believed the subprime plan, if concretely implemented, would reduce the effect of the mortgage crisis in the United States on the economies of other countries.
He said the US economic slowdown in the wake of the subprime crisis will reduce purchasing power of American people, which in consequence would affect Thailand's exports to the US.
Therefore the Thai finance minister said he viewed the US government's move to issue measures to cushion adverse repercussions of the problem as deserving Thailand's full support. (TNA)
By : Bangkok Post
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