The U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. said Tuesday that the administration was exploring what would be a significant expansion of the program to help at-risk mortgage holders.

Paulson, in an interview on CNBC, said the administration was involved in discussions with the mortgage industry to expand a current program to freeze adjustable rate mortgages for five years to include borrowers of loans at prime rates. Currently, the rate freeze only covers a much smaller segment of adjustable rate loans, those made to subprime borrowers. Those are borrowers with weak credit histories.

Paulson said he would consider expanding a support scheme with the Hope Now alliance "beyond subprime borrowers to other borrowers,"
...