The proposal to create a ­government vehicle to take on the toxic assets in the financial system is the core of the strategy put forward by Hank Paulson and Ben Bernanke to turn round the financial crisis.

“The federal government must implement a programme to remove these illiquid assets that are weighing down our financial institutions,” said Mr Paulson, the Treasury secretary. The “troubled asset relief programme” would have up front costs in the “hundreds of billions of dollars”.