Fannie Mae asked the US government for an additional $8.4bn in aid after posting an $11.5bn net loss for the first quarter, the latest sign that the bailout of the mortgage investor and its main rival, Freddie Mac, is likely to be the most expensive legacy of the US housing-market bust.

Fannie's losses reflected continuing weakness in the housing market and would have been worse without accounting changes that reduced its deficit. The quarterly loss was an improvement from the $23.5bn loss for the previous comparable period and it marked the 11th consecutive quarterly loss for the Washington-based firm.

Wall Street Journal