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    November 30, 2011

Central Banks Act to Support Global Financial System

   VOA News

   The world's major central banks took coordinated action Wednesday to
   support the global financial system, an effort aimed at boosting
   economic activity to avert a new recession.
   The U.S. Federal Reserve, the European Central Bank, the Bank of
   England and the central banks in Japan, Canada and Switzerland all said
   that starting next Monday they are making it a half percentage point
   cheaper to get U.S. dollars when they need them. They also moved to
   ensure that the banks would have easier access to money in any currency
   if world financial conditions warranted it.

   Europeon Debt to GDP Ratio

   The central banks' action immediately sent stock prices soaring at
   major European exchanges in London, Paris and Frankfurt and U.S. stock
   futures surged ahead of the opening of trading in New York. World
   financial markets have been roiled for weeks - with sharp swings in
   stock values, up and down - as investors worry about the survival of
   the euro currency used by 17 European nations and the continent's
   governmental debt crisis.
   The central banks said the move to shore up the global financial system
   was aimed at easing access to credit for households and businesses to
   "foster economic activity."

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

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