Bush tells the world: let's fight crisis together

Washington: President George W Bush said on Friday the US government was moving aggressively to address the financial markets crisis, but he acknowledged that anxiety was feeding on itself as stocks continued to plunge.

"The United States government is acting; we will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets," Bush said in an eight-and-a-half minute statement in the White House Rose Garden aimed at calming Americans' growing fears.

The credit markets have remained largely frozen despite coordinated interest rate cuts by central banks and government intervention to safeguard deposits and provide additional liquidity to lenders.

Stock markets have continued to fall dramatically which has drained the value of retirement accounts and limited the ability of companies to raise capital, stoking fears of a global recession and potentially a depression.

"This uncertainty has led to anxiety among our people. And that is understandable, that anxiety can feed anxiety, and that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem," Bush said.

He said that the Treasury Department was working quickly to implement programmes created by a $700 billion bailout package the US Congress passed and he signed into law exactly one week ago.

"The plan we are executing is aggressive. It is the right plan," he said, but cautioned that "it will take time to have its full impact."

Bush also said that his administration was working with other countries to ensure actions were coordinated and effective.

He will meet with the finance ministers of the Group of Seven leading industrial countries on Saturday.

They include Germany, France, Japan, Canada, Great Britain and Italy.

"Through these efforts, the world is sending an unmistakable signal: We're in this together, and we'll come through this together," he said.

Some investors may try to take advantage of the crisis to illegally manipulate the stock market, Bush said, adding that the Securities and Exchange Commission was stepping up its efforts to fight such possible malfeasance.

"We can solve this crisis and we will," Bush said. "This is an anxious time. But the American people can be confident in our economic future."