Treasury launches FinancialStability.gov

The Treasury Department has launched a Web site so the public can track the administration’s plans to fix the problems in the financial system.

FinancialStability.gov, which launched March 30, helps users navigate financial charts, common terms, contracts and statistics to better understand how complex financial problems affect the economy. The site is similar to the administration’s Recovery.gov Web site, which explains and tracks the funds authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

FinancialStability.gov also provides an interactive map to identify how much each state’s banks have received in capital infusions through the Troubled Asset Relief Program.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has said the financial stability plan is “designed to attack our credit crisis on all fronts with our full arsenal of financial tools and the resources commensurate to the depth of the problem.” He said Treasury has programs to:

• Stabilize the housing market by encouraging lower mortgage rates and making it easier for many homeowners to refinance and avoid foreclosure.
• Provide banks with capital to safeguard against a deeper recession.
• Target securities markets that are crucial for consumer and small-business lending in conjunction with the Federal Reserve.
• Create a market for the bad loans and securities that are harming the financial system.