Washington: Hillary Clinton loaned her struggling campaign $6.4 million over the last month, and is open to loaning herself more money in future, signaling her determination to stay in the Democratic Party presidential race, her campaign said today.

Clinton, the New York senator loaned herself $5 million on April 11, $1 million on May 1,and $425,000 since then. "The loans are a sign of her commitment to continuing the race, her commitment to continuing the process, and her commitment to staying competitive with (Barak) Obama on television and other areas," Clinton aide Howard Wolfson said, hours after she lost to her African-American rival, Barack Obama, 46, in North Carolina and scraped past him in Indiana, endangering her campaign in the scramble for delegates.

"The campaign continues to raise a lot of money, but Sen. Obama, to his credit, is also raising a lot of money," he was quoted as saying by CNN. The 60-year-old former first lady, who hopes to be the first woman US president, previously loaned her campaign $5 million in February. Wolfson said Clinton is open to loaning her campaign more money in the future.

According to the recent campaign reports filed with the Federal Election Commission, Clinton began the month of April with close to $32 million cash-on hand. But only $9 million of it could be spent during the primary season.

The report also showed Clinton owed over $10 million, meaning the Democratic presidential candidate was in the red even before she heavily stepped up television advertising ahead of the Pennsylvania primary in late April.

Following her Pennsylvania win on April 22, the Clinton campaign said they raised $10 million online. The campaign has not said how much they have raised since her close win in Indiana and North Carolina loss to Obama.

Source : PTI