ECB Pumps US$104b Into Banking System

Source : The Business Times, September 12, 2007

FRANKFURT - The European Central Bank said on Wednesday it would pump 75 billion euros (US$104 billion) into the euro money markets via an exceptional three-month liquidity tender.

In a move aimed at giving the markets a bit more air, the ECB said it made the sum available at a marginal or lowest rate of 4.35 per cent and a weighted average rate of 4.52 per cent.

The rates were high compared with the ECB's present main interest rate of 4.0 per cent and the sum also exceeded the bank's normal refinancing amount of 50 billion euros.

Last Thursday, the bank had already made another three-month injection of liquidity into euro money markets, where rates have risen owing to uncertainty about the impact of the US high-risk home loan crisis on the global economy. -- AFP