Chancellor Angela Merkel said Sunday that her government was working flat out to save troubled German mortgage lender Hypo Real Estate (HRE), according to dpa. Berlin "would not allow the difficulties faced by one financial institute" to damage the entire system, she said a day after HRE disclosed the collapse of a hoped-for government-backed bail-out. Speaking ahead of a meeting of her ruling coalition, Merkel said savers' deposits with the bank were safe and promised that those responsible for its difficulties would be made accountable. The German government and the banking industry had announced on September 29 a 35-billion-euro (50-billion-dollar) set of guarantees to enable HRE to resume short-term lending.
