Measures designed to address elevated pressures in the short-term US dollar funding markets

Central banks have been employing coordinated measures designed to address the pressures in global money markets.  Most recently, central banks have acted together to inject dollars into the overnight markets.  Using their reciprocal currency arrangements (swap lines) with the Federal Reserve, the Bank of England, the European Central Bank (ECB), and the Swiss National Bank today are announcing the introduction of operations to provide US dollar liquidity with a one-week maturity. These operations are intended to address funding pressures over quarter end. Central banks continue to work together closely and are prepared to take further steps as needed to address the ongoing pressures in funding markets.

The Governing Council of the ECB decided to provide US dollar one week funding over the quarter end to Eurosystem counterparties against Eurosystem-eligible collateral, applying a variable rate tender procedure and with an intended volume of USD 35 billion. During this week the overnight operations will be USD 30 billion. The operational details can be obtained from the ECB's website (www.ecb.europa.eu).

Information on the actions that will be taken by other central banks is available at the following websites:

Federal Reserve: http://www.federalreserve.gov

Bank of England: http://www.bankofengland.co.uk

Swiss National Bank: http://www.snb.ch