The world’s main central banks on Thursday unveiled an emergency $180bn injection of dollar liquidity in the latest attempt to halt the escalating global financial market crisis.

The US Federal Reserve announced it was making available the extra funding to overnight and longer-term money markets. In a joint statement, the European Central Bank, the Bank of Japan, the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada and Swiss National Bank pledged they would “continue to work closely together and will take appropriate steps to address the ongoing pressures.”