The chairman of the US Federal Reserve has urged politicians to "act quickly" to support the proposed $700bn (Ј378bn) bail-out of the financial markets.
The US economic outlook was "quite adverse" if measures were not taken, Ben Bernanke said.
Mr Bernanke said Congress must "address the grave threats to financial stability that we currently face".
On Tuesday politicians expressed strong scepticism about the bail-out following a five-hour Senate hearing on the plan.
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson had told already the banking panel that delaying the $700bn (Ј382bn) bail-out would put the entire US economy at risk.
But both Democratic and Republican congressmen said they wanted assurances that the plan would benefit ordinary American home-owners as well as Wall Street.
(BBC)
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