The Federal Reserve received strong interest from financial institutions this week from its first short-term credit auction, designed to ease the strain on the credit markets.
The auction, which offered $US20 billion ($A23.3 billion) in 28-day loans at a reduced rate of 4.65 per cent, attracted bids from 93 financial institutions the Federal Reserve revealed.
Coordinated with central banks around the world to address liquidity concerns, the auction is the first in a series of four.