Fekter welcomes banks'' liquidity steps

Austrian Finance Minister Maria Fekter welcomed a surprise decision by the world's major national banks to ease liquidity and put more money at the disposal of international finance markets.Up till now, "the inter-bank market was fairly slow-moving", she pointed out after finance ministers' talks in Brussels. It was the duty of the European Central Bank to see that the "currency flow" worked, the minister said, cited by the Austrian news agency in a report broadcast on Friday.In a concerted action, the central banks including those of the US, Canada, Switzerland, Japan, Britain and the Eurozone (ECB), agreed on Wednesday on a program to "give liquidity to the global finance system" with the goal of removing tension in the finance markets, preventing a credit bottleneck, and supporting growth.The central banks agreed on a lowering of certain interest rates by 0.5 percentage points on loans among eachother. There would furthermore be temporary bilateral agreements on special interest rates, so that liquidity could be offered in all currencies in their regions. Reactions on international stock exchanges were immediately positive.In other comments, Fekter said a medium to long-term introduction of eurobonds was feasible. But they could not be the next step. Joint state securities could only be brought in "when everyone is disciplined".If the Eurozone bonds came too soon, they would make certain sides "lax in budget discipline". Economically stronger countries like Austria would have to pay the price with higher interest rates.