Saturday, November 24, 2007

ECB Takes Emergency Liquidity Action

From the Financial Times: ECB set to pump cash into money markets
Fresh emergency action to pump funds into the money markets was announced on Friday night by the European Central Bank amid renewed fears that liquidity in the credit markets is again starting to dry up.

On Friday night, the bank said it would inject an unspecified amount of extra liquidity next week, noting “re-emerging tensions” ... The new promise of intervention came as three-month US interbank rates rose for the eighth day in a row to 5.04 per cent, more than half a point higher than the US Fed Funds target rate of 4.5 per cent.
...
The credit squeeze is also showing signs of dragging down euro-zone economic growth,... Service business growth in the 13-country euro-zone slumped to the weakest level for more than two years ...
So much for decoupling.