The US government announced that it plans new measures to bolster the two largest US mortgage companies, Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae. The new measures will call on the US Congress to increase the firm’s access to credit, and permit the Treasury to purchase shares in the companies when needed.

The Federal Reserve has also stated that it would lend to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae if additional funds were required.

Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are mortgage backers and play an important role in the US financial market by providing funds for home loans; buying mortgages and packaging them up as investments. But since the US property crisis, the companies have had to pay out as homeowners default on their loans.

The two firm’s shares plummeted last week, as investors feared that the government would have to bail the companies out after they suffered huge losses due to the US property crash.