China and EU to the monetary rescue

The global recession has dramatically reduced demand and tightened credit, but now monetary officials in the world's three largest economies have signaled that they'll do what it takes to help reverse those negative trends.

A day after China's central bank pledged to keep money flowing into the financial system to sustain growth, the European Central Bank (ECB) said it would buy 60 billion euros or $80.5 billion in covered bonds to increase liquidity in the euro zone, Bloomberg News reported Thursday.

ECB President Jean-Claude Trichet made the announcement after the central bank cut its benchmark interest rate by a quarter point to one percent.