Sub-prime lånekrisen i USA – tiltak iverksettes for å hjelpe huseiere i krise

Sub-prime lånekrisen i USA – tiltak iverksettes for å hjelpe huseiere i krise

Sakte, men sikkert kommer det nå etterhvert en del nye tiltak for å avhjelpe krisen på lanemarkedet i USA. Her er siste nytt fra New York Times om tiltak som nå iverksettes eller er på vei:

WASHINGTON — However much they might oppose it on ideological grounds, the Bush administration and the Federal Reserve are inching closer toward a government rescue of distressed homeowners and mortgage lenders.

Ben S. Bernanke, the Fed chairman, told a group of bankers in Florida on Tuesday that “more can and should be done” to help millions of people with mortgages that are often bigger than the value of their homes.

Though Mr. Bernanke stopped well short of calling for a government bailout, he used his bully pulpit to try to push the banking industry into forgiving portions of many mortgages and signaled his concern that market forces would not be enough to prevent a broader economic calamity.

He also suggested that the Federal Housing Administration expand its insurance program to let more people switch from expensive subprime mortgages to federally insured loans.

And he urged the two government-sponsored mortgage companies, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, to raise more capital so they could buy more mortgages. The companies already guarantee or hold as investments about $1.5 trillion in mortgages.

Similarly, the Bush administration, despite its public opposition to bailouts, has set the stage for a bigger government role.

One month ago, President Bush signed an economic stimulus bill that greatly increased the size of loans the F.H.A. can insure, while allowing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to purchase significantly larger mortgages from lenders and guarantee them against default by homeowners.

The move, which administration officials had previously opposed, increases the limits on F.H.A., Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae mortgages from $417,000 to as much as $729,750.

Historically, the F.H.A. and the mortgage companies have focused on conservative mortgages for people borrowing relatively modest sums. But they are now being encouraged to finance much bigger mortgages, in some cases to people who put almost no money down.

Last week, the administration went further by removing limits on the volume of mortgages that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can hold in their own portfolios. That means the two companies could buy up billions of dollars in mortgages that other investors have been too frightened to touch.

Problemet nå er det vil ta tid før tiltakene virker, og at krisen allerede har spredt seg til flere andre sektorer i økonomien. Foreløpig løper myndighetene rundt litt i etterkant av brannene. Men alle tiltak er bedre enn ingenting, og tiltakene har selvsagt også symbolsk verdi.