Key Euribor rate falls below ECB's 2 pct level

Tue, Feb 10 2009, 10:41 GMT
http://www.afxnews.com

FRANKFURT, Feb 10 (Reuters) - The key three-month Euribor

bank-to-bank euro lending rate fell below the European Central

Bank's benchmark interest rate of 2 percent on Tuesday, as it

hit the lowest level in almost five years.

The three-month Euribor rate, traditionally

the main gauge of the interbank euro lending and a mix of

interest rate expectations and banks' appetite for lending, fell

to 1.989 percent, under the ECB's main interest rate of 2

percent.

The one-week rate also remained well below the

ECB's main rate, dropping to 1.382 percent from 1.383 percent.

Six-month Euribor dropped as well, falling to

2.069 percent from 2.086 percent, the lowest it has been since

April 2004.

The ECB kept its benchmark interest rate on hold at 2

percent last week, but is expected to cut by 50 basis points in

March.

Overnight lending rates were quoted at a bid/ask

spread of 1.10/1.40 percent at 1015 GMT, compared with the

average on Monday of 1.187 percent.

Euribor rates are fixed daily by the Banking Federation of

the European Union (FBE) shortly after 1000 GMT.

Three-month rates form a benchmark for much short-term

commercial lending in Europe, and one-week rates give an

indication of banks' very short term financing conditions.

* For a table of the latest Euribor fixings for terms of one

week to one year, double click on

* For a table of the previous day's fixings of EONIA swap

rates, which show market expectations for future overnight

lending rates, double click on

* For graphs of historic Euribor and EONIA swap rates, right

click on the links in angle brackets below, and select 'Related

Graph'

1 week

2 week

3 week

1 month

2 month

3 month

4 month

5 month

6 month

7 month

8 month

9 month

10 month

11 month

1 year

(Reporting by Frankfurt newsroom)

(frankfurt.newsroom@thomsonreuters.com; +49 (0)69 7565 1209)

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