Central banks end crisis offer as bank system fears ease
Major central banks are standing down from their offer of daily emergency dollar loans to banks, a crisis step launched after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. fed fears about the stability of the global financial system
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — In a sign fears about the global financial system have eased for now, major central banks are scaling back their offer of emergency dollar loans to banks, a crisis step launched after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank in the U.S. fed fears about wider troubles.
The European Central Bank said Tuesday that it and other central banks found that pressure on banks' cash needs has dropped and the crisis credits were not being used much lately.
As of May 1, the central banks will move from daily offerings of dollars to any bank that needs them to the previous availability of every seven days.
Making extra dollars available has been a tool in times of trouble because banks need the U.S. currency to handle many international transactions. The so-called dollar swap lines were used during the 2008 global financial crisis and the economic turmoil in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic to ease the impact on the supply of credit to consumers and businesses.