Expecting fourth-quarter losses on loans, Freddie Mac said that for maintaining a positive net worth, the company may seek an additional up to $35 billion as aid from the US Treasury. The mortgage finance company’s government watchdog - the Federal Housing Finance Agency – is likely to put up the request before the Treasury Department.

The draw implies that the company’s fourth-quarter loss – revealing risky mortgages held in portfolio constituting a majority share – will be in excess of its record third-quarter loss of $25.3 billion. As such, the equity of the shareholders would be reduced to a negative $13.8 billion.

In its third-quarter report, Freddie Mac - the second-biggest provider of funding for home loans in the US – had said that worsening economic conditions, increasing jobless rates, and tightening credit resulted in an increase in the number of delinquent loans, including prime loans made to strong-credit borrowers.

In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Freddie Mac said that the amount of the additional capital infusion “reflects management’s current estimate of the impact on the company’s net worth in the fourth quarter.”

In the opinion of Barclays Capital analyst Rajiv Setia, with the cash infusion by the Treasury companies, like Freddie Mac and rival Fannie Mae, will keep operating as government entities for years, as they struggle to service costs and supply money for US housing.