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US firms' borrowing from Fed at new high
17 Oct 2008US banks, brokers and insurers tapped their central bank for a staggering $437.5 billion (£252 billion) a day last week, easily beating the previous week's record as the global financial crisis intensified.
Banks and dealers' overall direct borrowings from the Federal Reserve averaged a record $437.5 billion a day in the week ended 15 October, topping the previous week's $420.1 billion daily average.
Daily loans from the central bank to insurer AIG, which was bailed out by US taxpayers last month, were $83 billion, compared with $70.3 billion the week before. Some analysts are concerned that banks' dependence on Fed lending may become long-term and difficult to change.
