FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Banks took more than $50 billion from the European Central Bank on Wednesday in its first offering since slashing the cost of borrowing dollars, a sign that some euro zone banks have problems finding dollar funding as the region’s debt crisis intensifies.

Top central banks last week acted to ensure banks outside the United States have easier access to dollars, which banks in Europe have more difficulty obtaining in the market as investor concerns about their exposure to the debt crisis have grown.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Banks took more than $50 billion from the European Central Bank on Wednesday in its first offering since slashing the cost of borrowing dollars, a sign that some euro zone banks have problems finding dollar funding as the region’s debt crisis intensifies.

Top central banks last week acted to ensure banks outside the United States have easier access to dollars, which banks in Europe have more difficulty obtaining in the market as investor concerns about their exposure to the debt crisis have grown.

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT, Dec 1 (Reuters) – The new head of
the European Central Bank signaled on Thursday it was ready to
take stronger action to fight Europe’s debt crisis if political
leaders agree next week on much tighter budget controls in the
17-nation euro zone.

Speaking a day after the world’s major central banks took
joint action to provide cheaper dollar funding for starved
European banks, Mario Draghi painted a dark picture of the state
of the banking system.

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The new head of the European Central Bank signaled Thursday it was ready to take stronger action to fight Europe’s debt crisis if political leaders agree next week on much tighter budget controls in the 17-nation euro zone.

Speaking a day after the world’s major central banks took joint action to provide cheaper dollar funding for starved European banks, Mario Draghi painted a dark picture of the state of the banking system.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The European Central Bank failed to attract enough funds to offset the full value of its euro zone government bond purchases for the first time since May on Tuesday, adding to fears the debt crisis is worsening stress on the bloc’s banking sector.

Demand at the ECB’s weekly handout of limit-free funding also hit a new 2-1/2 year high as the increasingly restricted amount of lending in the traditional interbank market left the ECB as only funding option for a growing pack of banks.

FRANKFURT, Nov 29 (Reuters) – The European Central
Bank failed to sterilise the full value of its euro zone
government bond purchases in an operation on Tuesday, with
analysts saying the surprise numbers added to signs of stress in
the banking sector.

A shortfall in the sterilisation operation – it drew back
194 billion euros from banks versus a target of 203.5 billion -
would add up to the outright quantitative easing which the ECB
is firmly resisting as a next step in efforts to ease the debt
crisis.

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The European
Commission is seeking far tighter control of national budgets to
combat the euro zone’s debt crisis, a senior official said on
Friday, as the ECB’s chief urged rapid action on a euro zone
fund for rescuing countries in trouble.

With the crisis set to topple a fifth euro zone government
this weekend, the likely next Spanish prime minister appealed to
financial markets for breathing space as he begins tackling his
nation’s problems – something they may not give him.

BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT, Nov 18 (Reuters) – The European
Commission is seeking far tighter control of national budgets to
combat the euro zone’s debt crisis, a senior official said on
Friday, as the ECB’s chief urged rapid action on a euro zone
fund for rescuing countries in trouble.

With the crisis set to topple a fifth euro zone government
this weekend, the likely next Spanish prime minister appealed to
financial markets for breathing space as he begins tackling his
nation’s problems – something they may not give him.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi told euro zone governments Friday to act fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing exasperation at their lack of progress in response to an escalating debt crisis.

With the ECB under intense pressure to play a greater role in tackling the euro zone crisis, Draghi said governments had failed to put into practice decisions underpinning the European Financial Stability Facility — the rescue fund which they have promised to give more firepower without yet explaining how.

FRANKFURT, Nov 18 (Reuters) – European Central Bank
chief Mario Draghi told euro zone governments on Friday to act
fast to get their rescue fund up and running, expressing
exasperation at their lack of progress in response to an
escalating debt crisis.

With the ECB under intense pressure to play a greater role
in tackling the euro zone crisis, Draghi said governments had
failed to put into practice decisions underpinning the European
Financial Stability Facility — the rescue fund which they have
promised to give more firepower without yet explaining how.