World's six major central banks announced on Thursday that they are converting the existing temporary bilateral currency swap lines into permanent ones that will be tapped to boost liquidity at times of financial crisis.
The Bank of Canada, the Bank of England, the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank, the Federal Reserve, and the Swiss National Bank said in a joint statement that "their existing temporary bilateral liquidity swap arrangements are being converted to standing arrangements, that is, arrangements that will remain in place until further notice".
The standing arrangements will constitute a network of bilateral swap lines among the six central banks, the banks said. This will provide liquidity in each jurisdiction in any of the five currencies foreign to that jurisdiction, if the two central banks concerned judge that market conditions warrant such a move in one of their currencies.
"The existing temporary swap arrangements have helped to ease strains in financial markets and mitigate their effects on economic conditions," the central banks said. "The standing arrangements will continue to serve as a prudent liquidity backstop."
Leading central banks had entered into the liquidity boosting swap lines during the global financial crisis that began in 2008.
Separately, the ECB said on Thursday that it will continue to conduct regular U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations with maturities of approximately seven days and three months until further notice. The bank also said it may adjust the frequency and maturity of its U.S. dollar liquidity-providing operations in view of changing market conditions.
The Bank of Canada said these swap arrangements were originally authorized through February 1, 2014. The bank also announced that it has decided with the Federal Reserve to remove the US$30 billion cap on their reciprocal swap facility.
The SNB said it intends to continue offering U.S. dollar liquidity-providing repo operations at terms of one week and three months until further notice.
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