Fannie Mae: maintaining capital to fulfill mission

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Fannie Mae is maintaining a capital position that enables it to fulfill its federally -chartered mission of providing liquidity and stability to the U.S. housing sector, a company spokesman said on Thursday.

Shares of the largest provider of U.S. home funding are down about 14 percent at $13.12 on the New York Stock Exchange, having earlier touched a 17-year low on fears over its capitalization.

"We are managing our business and maintaining a capital position that will allow us to fulfill our congressionally chartered mission now and in the future," Brian Faith, Fannie Mae spokesman, said in an e-mail statement.

Fannie Mae said it has raised more than $14 billion in capital since November 2007, including $7.4 billion in May, and that its core capital position on March 31 before the May capital raise was $42.7 billion -- $11.3 billion more than its statutory minimum requirement.

(Reporting by Lynn Adler; Editing by Dan Grebler)