The US financial system has been stabilized and authorities averted a near-collapse in September that prompted unprecedented government intervention in private institutions, US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said in congressional testimony Tuesday, according to dpa. But Paulson warned there was still much work to be done to help the financial sector recover and to restrict the credit crisis' fallout into the wider US and global economy. "This is early days," Paulson told the Financial Services Committee of the House of Representatives. "I think we have turned the corner in terms of stabilizing the system." In a combative session before lawmakers, Paulson also defended the administration's actions to help struggling homeowners and said he opposed a 25-billion-dollar bail-out of the struggling US auto industry that has been pushed by Democrats in Congress. The government has already purchased nearly 150 billion dollars worth of shares in US banks to keep them from collapse, as part of an unprecedented 700-billion-dollar rescue package approved by Congress in October. Paulson said the Treasury expected to hold the rest of the money to provide "flexibility" for the incoming administration of president-elect Barack Obama, who takes office January 20.
