Originally published by the Voice of America (www.voanews.com).
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August 17, 2007

US Central Bank Takes Steps to Ease Credit Worries
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http://enews.voanews.com/t?ctl=18BFD87:A6F02AD83191E1607EC7A8725D06AD549574F7DCC14957C0 Federal Reserve
cuts interest rate on loans it makes to banks from 6.25 to 5.75
percent The U.S. central bank took another step to try and ease the
worries about credit that have sparked a global financial crisis and
sharp drops in global stock prices.

The Federal Reserve cut the interest rate on loans it makes to banks
by 0.5 percent, from 6.25 percent to 5.75 percent. This makes it
easier for banks to borrow money, and that makes it easier for them to
lend money, perhaps easing investor fears that a credit crisis could
hurt economic growth and profits.

The Fed did not change its main interest rate.

Central banks around the world had already tried to ease the credit
crisis by making hundreds of billions of dollars more money available
to lenders.

But that apparently was not enough as Asian stock prices fell
dramatically before the latest Fed action Friday.

Tokyo's Nikkei index fell more than 5 percent, South Korea's KOSPI
fell 3 percent, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell as much as 5 percent before
recovering somewhat and closing down almost 1.5 percent. China's
Shanghai Composite index ended more than 2 percent lower.

After the Fed's action to ease credit concerns, U.S. and European
stocks posted strong gains.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP, AP and Reuters.


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