The Bush Administration said yesterday that it has provided US$33.56 billion to 21 US banks under its US$250 billion purchase plan.

The government has bought US$125 billion stocks in nine major US banks in the first round of payments.

JPMorgan Chase, Citigroup and Wells Forgo, each got US$25 billion in government funds, and Bank of America got US$15 billion.

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley got US$10 billion each, and Bank of New York Mellon and State Street got US$3 billion and US$2 billion respectively.

Under the take-it-or-leave-it plan, the US government will use a portion of the US$700 billion financial rescue package to inject capital into banks by directly purchasing equity shares.

The government will initially buy stocks in nine major US banks under its US$250 billion purchase plan, another US$125 billion will be going to regional institutions.