Rate cut follows bank rescue plan
Updated on 08 October 2008
Gordon Brown follows this morning's £500bn financial rescue plan for Britain's banks with an announcement that UK interest rates have been cut by 0.5 per cent, to 4.5 per cent.
Seven central banks, including the US Federal Reserve and the European Central Bank, have also cut interest rates in a coordinated move.
At a press conference in Downing Street, the prime minister said the government was introducing a three-part stability and restructuring programme that he insisted was "comprehensive, specific and breaks new ground".
The government will set up a new £50bn fund to take a share stake in seven banks and one building society if those financial institutions need extra capital.
The Bank of England will extend a colossal £200bn to the special liquidity scheme, which allows banks to swap mortgages for cash. A further £250bn is being made available in a debt guarantee scheme.
The package is designed to get the banks to start lending to each other again.
