Obama Considering $1 Tln Stimulus Plan

U.S. President-elect Barack Obama has proposed a bold plan worth one trillion U.S. dollars to stabilize the U.S. housing market.

He also announced his selection of former New York City housing official Shaun Donovan as secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

In a weekly radio address Saturday, Obama stressed the importance of ending the subprime mortgage crisis, saying, “To stem the rising tide of foreclosures and strengthen our economy, I’ve asked my economic team to develop a bold plan that will dramatically increase the number of families who can stay in their homes.”

He also said helping homeowners will “end our housing mess, climb out of our financial crisis, and put our economy on the path to long-term growth and prosperity.”

A measure to stabilize the housing sector will be a key part of the economic stimulus of the Obama administration, along with the largest U.S. public works program in five decades and the expansion of healthcare coverage.

Though large-scale stimulus packages will weigh heavily on the federal government, which has a budget deficit of nearly one trillion dollars, they are inevitable to jumpstart the flagging economy and create a foundation for further development, Obama said.

The Wall Street Journal said his economic team is reviewing a stimulus package worth one trillion dollars, much larger than the previously announced two-year spending plan worth 500 billion dollars.

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that the House will act next month on a stimulus measure worth 500 billion to 600 billion dollars, but Obama’s economic advisers say that is not enough.

They warn that the unemployment rate will rise as high as nine percent without aggressive state intervention, the daily said.

Obama’s advisers are considering spending 600 billion dollars in the first year and 300 billion to 600 billion dollars in the second, depending on economic conditions in 2010.

Donovan, the appointee for housing and urban development secretary, is a housing expert with broad experience in academia, the public sector and corporate after earning master`s degrees in public administration and architecture from Harvard University.

He served as deputy assistant secretary for multifamily housing under the Clinton administration and worked at Prudential Mortgage Capital as managing director of its federal housing administration lending and affordable housing investments. Since taking over New York City’s housing department in 2004, he has led the department’s initiative to build 165,000 housing units for low-income households by 2013.

If the Senate confirms his nomination, Donovan will be the youngest Cabinet member of the Obama administration.

sechepa@donga.com