WASHINGTON (MNI) - The following are events and news reported Wednesday ET related to the financial crisis and other top news in the global financial system:

* Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser said late Tuesday the Fed is likely to have to begin to tighten policy before the jobs outlook has improved to avoid getting behind the curve. "I anticipate we will have to raise rates before unemployment rates back down to what the people are comfortable with, because we have to be forward looking and we have to anticipate it," Plosser told reporters following a speech on the economic outlook. [Repeated 07:16 ET]

* Dallas Federal Reserve Bank President Richard Fisher said the U.S. economy faces "many roadblocks" to full recovery, as well as two "obstacles" to removing those roadblocks. Those obstacles are the nation's "fiscal predicament" and congressional threats to "politicize" the Fed, said Fisher, who warned that the latter could lead the United States down a road to "ruin." [Repeated 07:16 ET]

* The Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) Wednesday released its Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey for the week ending January 8, 2010. The Market Composite Index, a measure of mortgage loan application volume, increased 14.3 percent on a seasonally adjusted basis from one week earlier. [07:00 ET]

* With the effective demise of monoline insurers, a good part of municipal bond supply no longer benefits from credit enhancement, offering more spread opportunities in the municipal bond sector, according to the DWS Investments municipal bond team. [08:04 ET]

* Moody's Investors Service Wednesday said that 2010 may prove to be a difficult year for European sovereign debt issuers, citing uncertainties on the likely pace and intensity of exit strategies as governments start to unwind fiscal stimulus steps and quantitative easing programs. [05:39 ET]

* German Economics Minister Rainer Bruederle said Wednesday that German GDP in the fourth quarter of 2009 grew just slightly above zero compared to the previous quarter. [07:36 ET]

* German real GDP fell 5.0% in 2009, the first drop in six years, after growth of 1.3% in 2008, the Federal Statistics Office reported Wednesday. The workday-adjusted GDP drop was also 5.0%. [Updated 03:45 ET]

* The European Commission will make proposals on improving the quality of Greek data, a spokeswoman said on Wednesday, but she refused to confirm that the EU's executive arm is gearing up to launch infringement proceedings against the heavily indebted state. [07:36 ET]

* Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee Member Adam Posen has called for greater competition among UK banks in the business lending sector. [07:31 ET]

* UK Manufacturing output remained unchanged for the second consecutive month in November, according to figures released by National Statistics Wednesday. Manufacturing output was flat between October and November and was down 5.4% on the year. [04:30 ET]

* French consumer prices rose somewhat more than generally expected in December, as costlier manufactured goods and services offset cheaper energy and food, the national statistics institute Insee said Wednesday. [03:05 ET]

* The U.K.'s economy is bouncing back from the recession and the Bank of England must now take a "wait and see" stance, Monetary Policy Committee member Andrew Sentance says in an interview with the Guardian. [03:03 ET]

** Market News International Washington Bureau: 202-371-2121 **