The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, Washington

US lawmakers on Sunday were set to sign off on a deal to create a $700 billion fund to buy bad debt from ailing banks in a bid to stem an escalating credit crisis that threatened to engulf the global economy.

U.S. congressional leaders had pushed talks into the early morning on Sunday to nail down the bailout deal in the hope of halting a downward spiral in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

The high-stakes negotiations over the financial rescue package had roiled financial markets and altered the course of the U.S. presidential campaign less than six weeks before the election. "We've made great progress," House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters after the night of marathon closed-door talks.