Nov. 17 (Bloomberg) -- Interest rates on U.S. commercial paper rose to the highest in more than a week, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, on concern that the U.S. fiscal rescue plan hasn't fixed banks' credit woes.

Rates on the highest-ranked 30-day commercial paper rose 0.2 percentage point to 1.36 percent, or 0.36 percentage point more than the Fed's target lending rate, according to yields offered by companies and compiled by Bloomberg. It was the highest rate since Nov. 6, when the rate rose to 1.48 percent.

Rates on the highest-rated 30-day paper backed by assets such as auto loans and credit cards were unchanged at 1.55 percent, Bloomberg data show.

``I think what we've seen the past couple of days is sort of tracking what's happened in Libor,'' said Alex Roever, head of short-term fixed-income strategy at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The three-month London interbank offered rate, or Libor, that banks say they charge each other for such loans rose less than half a basis point to 2.24 percent today, British Bankers' Association data showed.

Lending rates gained after Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson scrapped plans to use the $700 billion Troubled Assets Relief Program to buy devalued mortgage securities and said Nov. 12 his focus has shifted to the woes afflicting consumers. Companies sold $149.7 billion in commercial paper on Nov. 14, down 1.3 percent from the day before.

Libor rates increased in part because of ``the uncertainty that was introduced into the market when the Treasury shifted gears on the TARP,'' Roever said.

Fed Rate

The Fed today set the rate it's willing to accept for 90-day commercial paper at 2.51 percent, down 0.03 percentage point, including a 1 percentage-point unsecured credit surcharge. The 90-day secured asset-backed rate was set at 3.51 percent, down 0.03 percentage point, according to Fed data compiled by Bloomberg.

The rates are determined under the Fed's Commercial Paper Funding Facility and are available on CPFF. Commercial paper, which matures in 270 days or less, is used by companies to finance daily expenses such as payroll and rent.

The following companies are among those that have registered with the CPFF: American Express Co.; American International Group Inc.; Chrysler Financial Corp.; Ford Motor Credit Corp.; GMAC LLC; General Electric Co.; General Electric Capital Corp.; Harley-Davidson Inc.; Kookmin Bank; Korea Development Bank; Morgan Stanley; Prudential Financial Inc. and Torchmark Corp.

To contact the reporter on this story: John Detrixhe in New York at jdetrixhe@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: November 17, 2008 12:01 EST