US mortgage finance firm Fannie Mae has asked the Treasury¹ for another $10.7bn, (£6.4bn) as it announced a loss for the second three months of 2009.

美国抵押融资公司Fannie Mae在09年第二季度再度亏损，再次向国库请求贷款107亿美元。

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Fannie Mae has a key role in the US housing sector

Fannie Mae reported a loss of $15.2bn, but it was smaller than the $23.2bn it lost in the previous quarter.

It is the third time that Fannie Mae has requested government aid in recent months. It received $15.2bn in March.

The Treasury has made available funds of $200bn each to Fannie Mae and fellow mortgage giant Freddie Mac.

The results were driven by $18.8bn in losses on loans due to the weakening housing market conditions, made worse by rising unemployment.

It said that almost 4% of the loans it owns or guarantees were in arrears³（陈旧的，外欠的） up to 30 June - up from 1.4% percent a year earlier.

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy mortgages from approved lenders then sell them to investors⁴. Together they underwrite（签名于下，承诺支付） more than half of all US mortgages, worth about $5.4 trillion.

Fannie's latest request takes the amount which the pair have requested from the US Treasury to $96bn.

The firms hit difficulty after lowering their criteria⁵（标准） for borrowers during the housing boom.

Next year, the US government will unveil its plans for Fannie and Freddie. It may keep the companies private, wind them up, or merge⁶ them into a government agency.