Japan's central bank offers US$170 bln to ensure liquidity
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The Bank of Japan (BOJ) pledged an additional 13.8 trillion yen (170 billion U.S. dollars) to ensure the nation's banking system stays liquid following Friday's massive quake and tsunami.
Wednesday's offer, which included the immediate injection of 5 trillion yen (61.9 billion U.S. dollars) in emergency funds into markets, brings the total amount of emergency funds made available by the BOJ to 55.6 trillion yen (688.4 billion U.S. dollars).
Financial markets plunged after Friday's quake and tsunami that caused crippling problems at nuclear power plants and the BOJ's unprecedented moves are aimed at providing enough funds for local banks and institutions to lend to each other in quake-hit regions.
The BOJ also said Wednesday it will pump another 8.8 trillion yen (109 billion U.S. dollars) into markets on Thursday and Friday against certain collateral.
