برطانيا تضخ 50 مليار باوند…

Britain offers to bail out banks, rate cuts sought By Keith Weir
17 minutes ago

LONDON (Reuters) – Britain offered to pump up to 50 billion pounds ($87.2 billion) into its biggest retail banks on Wednesday to help them survive the worst international financial crisis since the 1930s.

ADVERTISEMENT

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said the global financial market had ceased to function after bad debts stemming from a collapse in the U.S. housing market poisoned the system.

The Bank of England, Britain’s central bank, came under pressure to cut interest rates from 5.0 percent this week in response to a crisis that has left people around the world worried about losing their savings and their jobs.

Hong Kong followed Australia’s lead in slicing a full point off interest rates amid increasingly strident calls for a coordinated, global monetary policy response.

The U.S. approved a $700 billion package last week to rescue its ailing banks — although its stock market continues to plunge — and governments across the globe are now pushing ahead with their own emergency measures.

“There is a failure of responsibility by many in the banking system,” Brown told a news conference. “It has become a problem in the whole banking system, we have got to deal with it.”

Shares in Europe and Asia plunged on fears that frozen money markets will stall business activity and send industrialized nations spiraling deep into recession.

Shares in Tokyo lost more than nine percent, the biggest decline since the 1987 stock market crash.

European shares tumbled more than seven percent to five-year lows. U.S. stocks had tumbled for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, completing a record five-day point loss.

“The deteriorating outlook for the economy and the deepening financial crisis are pushing fears to their limit,” said Mitsushige Akino, chief fund manager at Ichiyoshi Investment Management in Japan.

BRITISH BAILOUT

Britain’s offer of 50 billion pounds of public money to take stakes in some of its best known high street banks follows a slump in which some have lost nearly half their value on the stock market amid investor fears they could collapse.

In an effort to kickstart stalled money markets, the Bank of England will offer at least 200 billion pounds in short-term lending. Britain is also guaranteeing up to 250 billion pounds to help banks refinance debt.

The cost of borrowing sterling on interbank money markets eased slightly on Wednesday after the British move.

The Bank of England delivers its latest interest rate decision on Thursday and finance minister Alistair Darling dropped a heavy hint he would welcome a rate cut.

“Let me remind you of the remit … yes it’s to target the government’s inflation target, but it’s also to support the government’s wider objectives of economic stability,” he said.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Tuesday the U.S. economy was being battered by a financial crisis of “historic dimension” and that the risk for inflation has eased with the falling prices for oil and other commodities.

His comments were seen as paving the way for a deep cut in U.S. rates, possibly before the Fed’s end-of-month meeting.

Fed fund futures have priced in a half-point Fed rate cut this month, with a 75-basis-point cut an outside possibility.

Expectations have built that a weekend meeting of Group of Seven officials in Washington could set the stage for coordinated rate cuts.

ICELAND SUFFERS, TOYOTA TOO

The crisis has caused turmoil in once flourishing economies.

Facing financial meltdown, Iceland has taken over two of its largest banks — Landsbanki on Tuesday and now Glitnir — and is seeking a 4 billion euros ($5.4 billion) loan from Russia.

In the latest sign of gloom, corporate bankruptcies in Japan jumped 34.5 percent year-on-year, a research firm said.

A company source said carmaker Toyota Motor Corp may cut its annual profit outlook on sluggish global demand and a weaker yen.

U.S. presidential candidates John McCain and Barack Obama sparred over taxes and the economy on Tuesday in Tennessee, during a head-to-head debate ahead of the November 4 election.

“Americans are angry, they’re upset and they’re a little fearful,” said McCain, a Republican senator from Arizona. “We don’t have trust and confidence in our institutions.”

Obama, a Democrat senator from Illinois, said the financial crisis was aided by financial deregulation supported by McCain and Republicans. He said middle-class workers, not just Wall Street, needed a rescue package that would include tax cuts.

“We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, and a lot of you I think are worried about your jobs, your pensions, your retirement accounts,” Obama said.

(With reporting by Reuters global bureaus; Editing by Mike Peacock)

متى بيي دورنا