Senate panel to draft stimulus bill next week

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The chairman of the Senate Finance Committee on Thursday said the panel would meet next week to draft an economic stimulus bill.

"We want to ensure that Congress does its utmost for the American economy and for the American people," Sen. Max Baucus, a Democrat from Montana, said in a statement.

Baucus said he spoke with Sen. Charles Grassley of Iowa, the top Republican on the committee, earlier on Thursday and the two had agreed to move quickly and "mark up" a bill next week.

An aide close to the negotiations said on Thursday that U.S. lawmakers and the White House had reached "an agreement in principle" on steps to take to boost the U.S. economy, but the White House cautioned that no final deal had been reached.

(Reporting by Tim Ahmann; Editing by James Dalgleish)