Bank of England cuts official interest rates to 2 pct, ECD cuts to 2.5 pct

ECB verlaagt rente tot 2,5 procent

De rente in de eurozone is spectaculair verlaagd. De Europese Centrale Bank (ECB) heeft het belangrijkste tarieft met 0,75 procent omlaag gebracht naar 2,5 procent.
De afgelopen maanden is de rente ook al fors naar beneden bijgesteld; zowel in oktober als in november ging er een half procent af.
Zelden worden zulke grote rentestappen gezet, meestal blijven verhogingen of verlagingen beperkt tot een kwart procent. De snelle en forse daling heeft te maken met de economische crisis. Door de rente te verlagen (geld goedkoper te maken) hoopt de ECB dat het opgedroogde kredietverkeer tussen financiële instellingen weer op gang komt.

Te ECB website had a time out, possibly due to heavy traffic. They should fix that! We do not all have limitless time.
Key ECB interest rates
The Governing Council of the ECB sets the key interest rates for the euro area

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Bank of England cuts official interest rates to 2 pct ahead of European Central Bank decision

LONDON (AP) -- The Bank of England has slashed official interest rates by 1 percentage point, bringing the rate down to 2 percent, as it attempts to ward off a prolonged recession.
Thursday's decision by the central bank comes shortly before the European Central Bank is also expected to announce a cut in rates, widely tipped to be at least three quarters of a percent to 2.5 percent.
The cut in Britain takes rates down to their lowest since 1951 and many economists are predicting they will fall further in coming months, to as low as 1 percent or even zero.
Official figures have confirmed that the 15 countries that share the euro are in recession, while in Britain, the government has warned the economy will contract by over 1 percent in 2009.

The Swedish Riksbank cut rates by a record 1.75 percentage points.


(Dec 4- 13.45 CET) Pre-Market trading points to lower openining for US markets.