Central banks in the United States, Switzerland and elsewhere are coordinating to improve access to liquidity to keep markets safe amid a crisis of confidence in the banking system. right after UBS bought Credit Suisse, AFP reported.

The emergency measure was announced on Sunday after UBS bought Credit Suisse, an operation organized by the Swiss government to restore confidence in the financial system.

The institutions have decided to strengthen “swap lines”, a device that facilitates foreign central banks’ access to dollars.

Thus, central banks will increase the frequency of dollar transactions, “so far weekly, (and) these transactions will now be daily, starting on Monday, March 20, 2023. They will continue at this pace at least until the end of April,” the report said on Sunday.

The network of swap lines serves as a “liquidity safety net to calm tensions in international financial markets and thus help mitigate the effects of these tensions on lending to households and businesses,” these institutions emphasize.

Markets, reeling from the dramatic bankruptcy of Silicon Valley Bank, fear a lack of liquidity in an environment where interest rates have risen in the fight against inflation.

In 2020, the Fed created and expanded similar arrangements as the COVID-19 pandemic progressed, and they have been extended.

The agreement was signed by the Bank of England, the Bank of Canada, the European Central Bank (ECB), the Bank of Japan, the Swiss National Bank (SNB) and the US Federal Reserve System.