ECB urges U.S. to pass bank bailout plan

BERLIN, Oct. 1 (Xinhua) -- European Central Bank (ECB) President Jean-Claude Trichet has urged the U.S. Congress to pass the 700-billion-dollar bank bailout plan to prop up confidence in the global financial system.

"It has to go, for the sake of the U.S. and for the sake of global finance," Trichet said late Tuesday.

Trichet said the possibility of a pan-European approach to the banking crisis was small, considering the European Union (EU) is not "a fully-fledged federation with a federal budget."

"Each country has to mobilize its own efforts," said Trichet. "But of course there is a European spirit and that is the spirit of the single market."

Trichet made the appeal one day after the U.S. House of Representatives rejected the 700-billion-dollar financial rescue bill, triggering a major plunge around world stock markets.

European leaders are trying to strengthen coordination in their response to the financial crisis. Luxembourg Finance Minister Jean-Claude Juncker said Tuesday he expects to meet with Trichet and French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Oct. 4 to discuss "a more systematic approach."

The ECB has so far chosen a different way from the Federal Reserve to stabilize the financial markets. Instead of slashing interest rates, it has injected cash into the markets to rescue banks.