WASHINGTON - BANKS and investment firms ramped up borrowing from the Federal Reserve's emergency lending facility over the past week, providing fresh evidence of the credit stresses squeezing the country.

The Fed's report released on Thursday said commercial banks averaged US$44.5 billion (S$64.5 billion) in daily borrowing over the past week. That compared with a daily average of US$39.36 billion in the previous week.

For the week ending on Wednesday, investment firms drew US$147.7 billion. That was up significantly from US$88.15 billion in the previous week. This category was broadened last week to include any loans that were made to the US and London-based broker-dealer subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley and Merrill Lynch.

The Fed report also showed that US$122.1 billion worth of loans were made to money market mutual funds - via banks - to help the funds, which have been under pressure as skittish investors demand withdrawals.

The report comes as Washington policymakers battle the worst financial crisis since the stock market crash of 1929.

Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has urged quick action by Congress on a US$700 billion plan to buy bad assets from banks and other institutions to shore up the financial industry. He has warned that failing to do so would let problems fester, pushing the country into a recession and driving unemployment and home foreclosures even higher.

Investment houses in March were given similar, emergency-loan privileges as commercial banks after a run on Bear Stearns pushed what was the nation's fifth-largest investment bank to the brink of bankruptcy. The situation raised fears that other Wall Street firms might be in jeopardy.

Bear Stearns was eventually taken over by JPMorgan Chase in a deal that involved the Fed's financial backing.

The identities of commercial banks and investment houses that borrow are not released. Commercial banks and investment companies now pay 2.25 per cent in interest for the loans.

In the broadest use of the central bank's lending power since the 1930s, the Fed in March scrambled to avert a market meltdown by giving investment houses a place to go for emergency overnight loans. The Fed has since extended those loan privileges into next year.

The Fed's expanded lending programmes, its involvement in the Bear Stearns rescue and the government's bailout of mortgage finance giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have spurred concerns that taxpayers could be on the hook for billion of dollars. Critics also worry that the actions encourage 'moral hazard,' where companies take on extra risks because they believe the government will come to their aid.

Separately, as part of efforts to relieve credit strains, the Fed auctioned US$25 billion in super-safe Treasury securities to investment companies on Thursday. Bids were placed for US$49 billion worth of the securities.

In exchange for the 28-day loans of Treasury securities, bidding companies can put up as collateral more risky investments. These include certain mortgage-backed securities and bonds secured by federally guaranteed student loans.

The auction programme, which began Mar 27, is intended to make investment companies more inclined to lend to each other. A second goal is providing relief to the distressed market for mortgage-linked securities and for student loans.

All the Fed's extraordinary efforts, however, haven't been able to halt the crisis or prevent a seismic shake-up on Wall Street. In recent weeks, Lehman Brothers, the country's fourth-largest investment bank, filed for bankruptcy protection. A weakened Merrill Lynch, deciding it couldn't go it alone anymore, found help in the arms of Bank of America. Insurance giant American International Group was thrown an US$85 billion financial lifeline.

And, the last two investment houses - Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley - decided to convert themselves into commercial banks to better weather the financial storms. -- AP