G7 ministers announce 5 point rescue plan

11/10/2008 19:55:51

Finance ministers from the G-7 group of rich industrialised countries have announced a five-point plan to counter the world financial crisis.

After a hastily arranged meeting in Washington the ministers issued a statement saying the current situation calls for urgent and exceptional action.

The one-page plan promises to use all available tools to prevent important financial institutions from failing, including giving them tax payers' money as a source of new capital.

The US Treasury Secretary, Henry Paulson, says the American Government is already developing a scheme to buy stakes directly in banks and other financial companies.

He says the government is developing strategies to purchase and insure mortgage assets and to purchase equity in financial institutions as deemed necessary to promote financial market stability.

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