US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson today praised the expanded mortgage securities investment plan for the Federal Home Loan Banks announced this morning. "The targeted decision by the Federal Housing Finance Board to enable the Federal Home Loan Banks to assist temporarily in this period of stress, consistent with safe and sound operatoins, will bring more liquidity to the mortgage market," he said in a statement. The regional Federal Home Loan Banks will be allowed for two years to increase to 600 pct of capital from 300 pct, the amount of mortgage-backed securities (MBS) they can purchase, providing at least 100 bln usd in additional capital to the MBS market.