U.S. to aid some local mortgage programs

A Treasury Department program aimed at propping up local housing finance agencies will help inject $29 billion into these groups over the next year, according to government data scheduled to be released Tuesday.

The program focuses on state and local housing finance agencies, which provide loans to low- and moderate-income borrowers and have struggled in the past year as investors shied away from buying their debt. Under the program, Treasury, along with mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, will buy bonds used by housing finance agencies to fund mortgages.