Washington  - A bipartisan agreement to pass a 700-billion- dollar deal to bail the country out of its financial crisis has been reached, legislators from the special committees handling the issue said Thursday.

Christopher Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut and chair of the Senate banking committee, could not say exactly when the bill would pass, but he expected action "within the next few days."

"We've reached a fundamental agreement on a set of principles," Dodd said.

Senator Bob Bennett, a Republican from Utah, said he expected the plan to "pass the House, pass the Senate, be signed by the president, and bring a sense of certainty to this crisis that is sill roiling in the market." (dpa)