$20bn from Fed to ease credit woe

The US Federal Reserve has made $20bn (£9.9bn) available to major banks in an attempt to ease concerns about a global credit crunch.
Monday's auction is the first step in a plan agreed among five central banks, including the Bank of England and the European Central Bank.

The central banks hope that the auction will make retail banks and investment houses happier to lend to each other.

Such lending has become more expensive recently, adding to the credit squeeze.

The central banks plan to offer more than $100bn in loans to retail banks, after it became clear that cuts in interest rates were not having an effect on inter-bank lending.

US Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson said on Monday that there was no "silver bullet" to solve the credit market problems.