Bush: Top officials "working" Freddie-Fannie issue

WASHINGTON, July 11 (Reuters) - President George W. Bush said on Friday Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were important U.S. institutions and top economic officials were "working this issue very hard", amid growing concern about the mortgage giants' funding.

"Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are very important institutions. We spent a fair amount of time discussing these institutions. He (Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson) assured me that he and (Federal Reserve Chairman) Ben Bernanke will be working this issue very hard," Bush told reporters after meeting his top economic advisers. (Reporting by David Alexander, writing by Matt Spetalnick, Editing by Chizu Nomiyama)