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WASHINGTON - US President George W. Bush on Friday blamed "uncertainty and fear" for aggravating the global financial meltdown and insisted US authorities have the tools they need to confront the crisis.
Offering no new remedies to the economic bloodbath, Bush warned the fearful US public and jittery global markets that "anxiety can feed anxiety, and that can make it hard to see all that is being done to solve the problem."
"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," he promised.
"Fellow citizens, we can solve this crisis -- and we will," he promised in the White House Rose Garden one day before holding rare crisis talks with the finance ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) rich industrialized nations.
In addition to that meeting, comprising envoys from Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy and Japan, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson was to meet with the G20, which also includes major economies like Russia, China, and India.
"The world is sending an unmistakable signal: We're in this together, and we'll come through this together," said Bush, who discussed the crisis by telephone earlier with Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd.
The US president, whose terms ends January 20, placed an unusually strong emphasis in his remarks on psychological factors he warned were fueling an existing credit crisis sparked by US housing woes.
"This uncertainty has led to anxiety among our people. And that is understandable," he said.
"Here's what the American people need to know: That the United States government is acting; we will continue to act to resolve this crisis and restore stability to our markets," he said in the White House Rose Garden.
"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," he pledged.
"We are a prosperous nation with immense resources and a wide range of tools at our disposal. We're using these tools aggressively."
As he spoke, Wall Street shares recouped heavy losses from an opening plunge Friday in highly volatile action amid a worldwide stock meltdown
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, following seven brutal losing sessions, fell briefly below 8,000 points at the open, or nearly 700 points, before a sharp rebound.
- AFP /ls
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