Canada buying mortgages to keep credit available

By ROB GILLIES | Associated Press TORONTO - Canada is buying up to $25 billion Canadian ($21 billion) in mortgage backed securities from the country's banks in an effort to maintain the availability of credit, the country's finance minister said Friday. Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said the action will help consumers, homebuyers and businesses in Canada get loans. The global credit crisis is starting to restrict the ability of Canadians to obtain loans for mortgages, cars and investments, Flaherty said. In an indication of the uncertainty in the markets, Canada's private banks declined to pass on to consumers the full half-point cut in interest rates announced by central banks around the world this week. The banks cut interest a quarter of a point instead. Flaherty said Canada's banks are sound, well capitalized and less... [read full story]