ECB offers $ 645 bn at 1 %

ECB Lends Banks $645B, Exceeding Forecast

By Gabi Thesing and Rainer Buergin

The European Central Bank will lend euro-area banks a record amount for three years in its latest attempt to keep credit flowing to the economy during the sovereign debt crisis.
The Frankfurt-based ECB awarded 489 billion euros ($645 billion) in 1,134-day loans today, the most ever in a single operation and more than economists’ median estimate of 293 billion euros in a Bloomberg News survey. The ECB said 523 banks asked for the funds, which will be lent at the average of its benchmark interest rate -- currently 1 percent -- over the period of the loans. They start tomorrow.
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Comment: The ECB has finally joined the QE craze to produce global hyperinflation.