Bush to talk about the economy to Chamber Friday

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Friday plans to speak about the ailing U.S. economy in an address the business-friendly U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the White House said on Wednesday as fears of a recession grew.

Speaking almost daily about the economy and the financial crisis for weeks, Bush has been trying to convince the American public and Wall Street that the $700 billion bailout package is the right solution and that it will take time to take effect.

Bush will speak about the package "and the temporary investment that's been designed to first protect all Americans from suffering because of the frozen credit markets, and second to get taxpayers a return on their money as they'll be passive and temporary investors in many banks across America," said White House spokesman Tony Fratto.

The Bush administration announced this week it would buy up to $250 billion in equity stakes in U.S. financial institutions as part of an effort to get credit flowing again after it was frozen as a result of the collapse in the U.S. housing market.

The plan for his speech was announced on that day that the Commerce Department reported retail sales had plummeted last month, the third consecutive monthly drop and the sharpest decline since August 2005.

That helped send U.S. markets spiraling downward, including a 9 percent drop in the Standard & Poor's 500 stock index.

(Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky, Editing by Andre Grenon)