The Bank of England said it received bids for US$9.204 billion from its limit of 10 bidders. The weighted average accepted rate on the money was 1.665 per cent.

The Swiss National Bank meanwhile said it received only five bids for its offer which asked for US$1.2 billion. The weighted average interest rate on the money was 1.5 per cent.

The reduction in demand from the SNB came after Swiss authorities announced a bailout package worth about US$60 billion for its largest bank UBS AG on Thursday - shaking the country's reputation as a financial haven protected from the global meltdown.

UBS and the country's second-largest bank, Credit Suisse, account for 67 per cent of the US$3.1 trillion on Swiss banks' balance sheets.

The ECB did not take part in the daily dollar lending, as it said earlier this week it would only conduct overnight dollar operations on an as-needed basis depending on market developments, starting Thursday.

On Wednesday, the SNB and the European Central Bank also announced measures to thaw credit jams, especially between the franc and the euro, to address the increased pressure on short-term Swiss franc liquidity and money market rates in the euro zone.

The banks said every Monday, beginning Oct 20, the ECB and SNB will conduct euro and franc foreign exchange swaps, providing Swiss francs against euros with a term of seven days at a fixed price - especially to euro zone banks that wouldn't otherwise have access to liquidity from the SNB.

The banks said the arrangement will go on as long as needed and at least until January 2009. -- AP