Bush Remarks on the Global Economy

With these actions to help prevent foreclosures, we're addressing a key problem in the housing market: The supply of homes now exceeds demand and, as a result, home values have declined.

Once supply and demand balance out, our housing market will be able to recover, and that will help our broader economy begin to grow.

Fifth, we've seen that problems in the financial system are not isolated to the United States. They're also affecting other nations around the globe. So we're working closely with partners around the world to ensure that our actions are coordinated and effective.

Tomorrow, I meet with the finance ministers from our partners in the G-7 and the heads of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank. Secretary Paulson will also meet with finance ministers from the world's 20 leading economies.

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

And finally, American businesses and consumers are struggling to obtain credit because banks do not have sufficient capital to make loans. So my administration worked with Congress to pass a $700 billion financial rescue package. This new law authorizes the Treasury Department to use a variety of measures to help bank (sic) rebuild capital, including buying or ensuring troubled assets and purchasing equity of financial institutions.

BUSH: The department will implement measures that have maximum impact as quickly as possible. $700 billion is a significant amount of money. And as we act, we will do so in a way that is effective.

The plan we are executing is aggressive. It is the right plan. It will take time to have its full impact. It is flexible enough to adapt as the situation changes. And it is big enough to work.

The federal government will continue to take the actions necessary to restore stability to our financial markets and growth to our economy. We have an outstanding economic team carrying out this effort, led by Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, SEC Chairman Chris Cox and FDIC Chair Sheila Bair.

I thank them and their dedicated teams for their service during this important moment in our country's history.

This is an anxious time. But the American people can be confident in our economic future.

We know what the problems are. We have the tools to fix them. And we're working swiftly to do so.

Our economy is innovative, industrious and resilient, because the American people who make up our economy are innovative, industrious and resilient. We all share a determination to solve this problem, and that is exactly what we're going to do.

May God bless you.

END