US to pump $250 billion into its banks to end financial crisis

London: The United States is set to inject $250 billion into its banks, following a concerted European drive to end the global financial crisis.

The US Treasury is due to unveil its plan later on Tuesday with about half of the total figure likely to go to the top nine US banks alone to get them lending to each other again, people familiar with the plan said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Bernanke said in an article on the Wall Street Journal's website that the measures, which he did not detail, constituted a broad-based attempt to end the crisis.

Japan also joined the global push, saying it could inject public funds into regional banks to make sure small firms can get cash.

Similar plans in Europe helped restore some confidence among investors on Monday. London, Berlin and Paris offered direct capital injections for banks and to underwrite interbank lending in order to kickstart frozen money markets.

Germany approved a rescue plan worth up to 500 billion euros ($679 billion) for its banks and France put up a total of 360 billion euros.

Britain, which has led the way with a twin blueprint of bank equity stakes and money market support, had already pledged 250 billion pounds to guarantee lending between banks and stumped up 37 billion pounds to buy into its troubled banks.