Measures to address liquidity pressures in some funding markets

Central banks have continued to work together and to consult regularly on liquidity conditions in financial markets. In view of the persistent liquidity pressures in some term funding markets, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank are announcing an expansion of their liquidity measures.

The Governing Council of the ECB has decided, in conjunction with the Federal Reserve and in the context of the Term Auction Facility, to increase the amount of US dollar liquidity provided to the counterparties of the Eurosystem to USD 25 billion in each bi-weekly auction.

The operations will be conducted every second week with a maturity of 28 days. A document setting out the operational procedures will be made available on the ECB’s website and the operational details of each auction will continue to be announced in due time before each tender on the ECB’s wire services pages and on the ECB’s website.

It is intended to continue the provision of USD liquidity for as long as the Governing Council considers it to be needed in view of the prevailing market conditions.

Information on the actions taken by the Federal Reserve and the Swiss National Bank is available at the following websites:Federal Reserve ( http://www.federalreserve.gov)Swiss National Bank ( http://www.snb.ch)