Bush to address mortgage rate-freeze agreement

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Thursday will announce a private sector agreement to freeze mortgage interest rates to help homeowners hit by a credit crisis that has roiled financial markets, a White House official confirmed.

Bush will make the statement at 1:40 p.m. (1840 GMT) on a housing industry agreement to refinance or modify existing loans or freeze current interest rates "for some time," a White House official said on condition of anonymity.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; Editing by Theodore d'Afflisio)