Problem solved?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said Tuesday that he does not expect any more major financial institutions to fail during the current credit crisis.
Paulson also said he has no current plans to ask Congress to make the second half of the $700 billion financial rescue fund available before the Bush administration leaves office on Jan. 20. But he added that the administration was prepared to move quickly, if necessary, to tap the extra resources.
In an interview on CNBC, Paulson said he believes the actions taken by financial authorities in the U.S. and other countries will allow all the systemically important institutions to remain viable.
The administration has obligated almost all of the first $350 billion in the financial rescue package approved by Congress on Oct. 3. There had been speculation that the Bush administration would ask for approval to begin using the second $350 billion in the bailout bill before leaving office.
Paulson said Tuesday he believed the government had a "lot of firepower" at its disposal currently, including the rescue program and multibillion-dollar loan programs being used by the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. to stabilize the banking system.
