MORTGAGE rates should be cut, the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, told banks yesterday as he urged them to play their part in easing the credit crunch.
Mr Darling said a £15 billion Bank of England injection showed the government had played its part and that lenders "have got to help people as well".
His plea for recent cuts in the base rate to be passed on to borrowers came after banking chiefs
were summoned to Downing Street for high-level talks.
Gordon Brown, the Prime Minister, is to discuss the present global turmoil with leading City figures tomorrow morning, before departing for a visit to the US.
And then Mr Darling will meet representatives of the Council of Mortgage Lenders in an effort to agree measures to help calm the market.
The Chancellor said the industry had to contribute. "We have been supporting the system: through the Bank of England an extra £15 billion has been put in to help them get through this difficult period," he said.
"In turn, we want to ensure we can help businesses, we can help individuals and homeowners by helping reopen the mortgage market and making sure the benefits of the interest rate cuts the Bank of England has been able to put in place twice this year can be passed on.
"We know this is a difficult time. We can get through it. What we are saying is: we are helping the banks; the banks have got to help people."
The Bank of England cut the base rate last week for the third time since December, but experts have predicted the cost of borrowing will continue to rise.
The full article contains 284 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.
