Financial Times FT.com

Lehman Brothers

Fed to start buying commercial paper

By Chris Giles in London,Tony Barber in Brussels, Michael Mackenzie in New York and James Politi in Washington

Published: October 7 2008 14:33 | Last updated: October 8 2008 00:36

Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve chairman, on Tuesday opened the door to possible interest rate cuts after the central bank announced it would buy short-term debt from banks and corporations in an unprecedented attempt to unfreeze money markets.

Mr Bernanke indicated that lower interest rates could be necessary, saying the Fed would “need to consider whether the current stance of policy remains appropriate”. He stopped short of explicitly signalling that rates would be cut below the present level of 2 per cent.

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