Fed ready with money
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September 11, 2001: 1:19 p.m. ET
U.S. central bank announces 'discount window' is open in wake of attacks
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - The central bank of the United States is making money available to banks in the wake of terrorist attacks Tuesday on major targets in New York and Washington, D.C.
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Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan | |
A statement on the Federal Reserve Web site said: "The Federal Reserve System is open and operating. The discount window is available to meet liquidity needs."
Before the statement was released, Fed officials had told Reuters that Chairman Alan Greenspan was out of the country attending a banking conference in Switzerland but was being kept apprised of developments.
Federal Reserve Vice Chairman Roger Ferguson, the No. 2 official at the Fed, was monitoring banking and financial market developments along with a team of top Fed officials.
Federal buildings in Washington -- including the White House -- were evacuated in the wake of attacks in Washington that destroyed part of the Pentagon and caused damage at the State Department.
In a separate attack, two apparently hijacked airliners were crashed into the towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, destroying both and causing death and injury likely numbered in the thousands.
Click here for more on the attacks
The promise to supply additional money to the banking system was similar to a pledge the Fed issued on the morning after the October 1987 stock market crash, when the market plunged more than 500 points in one day of trading.
That statement in 1987 was given a large amount of credit for helping to restore calm to badly shaken financial markets.
- from staff and wire reports
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Federal Reserve
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