The US Federal Reserve announced on Thursday that it is expanding the scope of its US$1-trillion program aimed at boosting consumer credit.

The program is being expanded to include four additional categories of asset-backed securities, the central bank said in a statement.

They are securities backed by loans or leases relating to business equipment, leases of vehicle fleet, loans extended by mortgage servicers to cover payments missed by homeowners, and "floorplan loans" that help sellers of big-ticket items including trucks, boats and heavy equipment.

The new categories will not be part of the program's initial rollout this week, but will be included starting in April, according to the statement.

Created by the Fed and the Treasury Department late last year, the program aims to spur lending for auto, education, credit card and other loans for consumers and small businesses.

Investors can get loans from the Fed and use the money to buy newly issued securities backed by a range of consumer and business debt.

On February 10 this year, the Fed announced that it was prepared to undertake a significant expansion of the program.

Called the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility (TALF), the program is designed "to catalyze" credit markets that have been frozen in the financial crisis.

"Today's announcement marks the first step in that expansion," the Fed said. "A number of other asset classes are under review."

(Xinhua News Agency March 20, 2009)