SmallGovTimes.comFed takes new steps to ease crisis By: News Bites | Published on 03/17/08 The Federal Reserve, in an extraordinarily rare weekend move, took bold action Sunday evening to provide cash to financially squeezed Wall Street investment houses, a fresh effort to prevent a spreading credit crisis from sinking the U.S. economy. The central bank approved a cut in its emergency lending rate to financial institutions to 3.25 percent from 3.50 percent, effective immediately, and created a lending facility for big investment banks to secure short-term loans. The new lending facility will be available to big Wall Street firms on Monday. Original URL: http://www.smallgovtimes.com/story/08mar17.fed.intervenes.economy/index.html |