Bush says "confident" U.S. financial bill will pass

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President George W. Bush on Wednesday said he was confident a $700 billion (392 billion pound) financial bailout bill would pass Congress and that lawmakers needed to take it "very seriously" to get credit flowing again.

The Senate was expected to vote on the legislation later on Wednesday and then the House of Representatives was to take it up on Friday after defeating an earlier version on Monday.

"It's very important for members to take this bill very seriously. It's important to get credit flowing again," Bush told reporters after meeting with a top general on Afghanistan.

Bush said the legislation had been improved by a provision that would raise the cap for bank deposits insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

"It's very important for us to pass this piece of legislation so as to stabilise the situation, so that it doesn't get worse," Bush said.

"The bill's different, it's been improved, and I'm confident it will pass," he said.

(Reporting by Tabassum Zakaria; editing by Gary Crosse)