American International Group Inc, the insurer taken over by the US government, may access $37.8 billion from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in addition to the $85 billion loan that helped it stave off bankruptcy.

AIG can swap as much as $37.8 billion of its "investment-grade, fixed-income securities" for cash to "replenish liquidity" at the New York-based insurer, the Fed said late on Wednesday (local time) in a statement. AIG spokesman Nicholas Ashooh said the assets were held mainly in US life insurance subsidiaries and declined to say how much of the new program has been used.

"You're in for a dime, you're in for a dollar on this one," said David Havens, a credit analyst at UBS AG. "The core problem is liquidity as opposed to solvency, though as the businesses deteriorate and adverse economic conditions take hold, solvency will also become more of an issue."