LONDON - THE Bank of England on Monday offered US$40 billion (S$56.7 billion) to banking institutions that are facing funding problems because of the credit crunch.

The BoE, which last Thursday began offering the sum on a daily basis, added that banks had snapped up US$26.15 billion of Monday's cash. Borrowers must repay the loans by Tuesday.

Central banks worldwide agreed last week to pump hundreds of billions of dollars into money markets that have been battered by the current financial crisis in order to ensure that banks could access short-term funding. -- AFP