WASHINGTON, US - US President George W. Bush cautioned that a US$700-billion (S$996-billion) bailout for troubled Wall Street banks will not answer all US economic woes and predicted difficulties would last 'for some time'.

'Even with the important steps we are taking to address the current crisis, we will continue to face serious challenges,' Mr Bush warned, adding that the credit crisis and housing woes 'will continue to pressure our financial system and impact the growth of our economy for some time'.

In a statement made at the White House on Monday morning, he urged lawmakers to pass the compromise financial system bailout bill they fashioned inmarathon weekend bargaining, saying it is needed to 'keep thecrisis in our financial industry from spreading' across theeconomy.

Mr Bush argued that jittery US taxpayers will benefit from a number of safeguards that lawmakers wrote into the pending legislation during weekend negotiations in Congress. The president spoke shortly after two leading players in the congressional bargaining went on television news shows to urge passage, even as both acknowledged the necessity of this action represents a sad day for the nation.

Asked if the compromise bill indeed will go through Congress, Sen. Chris Dodd, a Democrat, replied: 'We hope so.'

But the senator, chairman of the Banking Committee, also said the bill is not a panacea for all the problems that have bedeviled the US financial markets. He also said, though, that failure to act would spread the contagion of frozen credit markets even further.

'This is not just about Wall Street,? Dodd said. He said that it's 'potentially going to hurt other people across the country'.

Sen. Judd Gregg, who represented fellow Republicans in the weekend talks, called it 'tourniquet' for the ailing financial industry and slow-moving economy.

The latest assessments of prospects for passage came as investors worldwide and in early trading in the United States continued to show doubt about whether the bill would go through, much less go along way toward curing the systemic problems that have unnerved financial markets across the globe for weeks.

The House was slated to vote later Monday on the deeply unpopular rescue package for the stressed financial industry.

Mr Bush on Sunday conceded this was a difficult vote in an election year ? and repeated that sentiment in his statement Monday morning.

But he called a vote for the bill 'a vote to prevent economic damage' to communities across the country.

He also said the legislation addresses the root cause of the problem ? 'assets related to home mortgages that have lost value during the housing decline'.

And the president noted that under provisions of the pending bill, 'the federal government will be authorised to purchase these assets' and said that will help financial institutions to resume lending to individuals and businesses.

'I know many Americans are worried about the cost of the bill,' Mr Bush said. But he also said the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office and the federal Office of Management and Budget expect that the 'ultimate cost to the taxpayer' will be much less. -- AFP, AP