Washington- The government's chief financial gurus plan to tackle growing public anger over the White House's mammoth bank bailout plan before Congress on Tuesday by painting a dire picture of economic collapse if lawmakers fail to act.

"The market turmoil we are experiencing today poses great risk to US taxpayers," Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will say, according to a copy of his testimony released in advance.

Paulson, a former top Wall Street figure, and Federal Reserve head Ben Bernanke are to appear before the Senate banking committee starting at 1400 GMT.

"When the financial system doesn't work as it should, Americans' personal savings and the ability of consumers and businesses to finance spending, investment and job creation are threatened," Paulson plans to say.

Bernanke, the academic who has played a background role in engineering the historic 700-billion-dollar proposal, plans to cite the "weakening labour market and elevated inflation" that have made the economy so fragile.

"If financial conditions fail to improve for a protracted period, the implications for the broader economy could be quite adverse," he plans to say, according to testimony released in advance. (dpa)